Spectrophobia
by Death By Segway Scooter
Summary: Shute is in for some major buyer's remorse when he accidentally purchases an accursed mirror.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** _Superior Defender Gundam Force_ is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time.

**Spectrophobia  
****Chapter 1**

"So what do you think, Captain?" Shute asked as he held his arms out.

Captain Gundam, in his mobile citizen mode, looked over at the nearest vendor. There were several tables lined up end to end, which were covered in every type of kitchen knife available. Butter knives, paring knives, steak knives, butcher knives, cheese knives, bread knives, boning knives and meat cleavers, in both steel and plastic. At the far end of the display were two worn wooden marionettes wearing faded clothes. The pupils of one of the puppets had completely chipped away, and it stared up at the Gundam with blank white eyes.

"It's...interesting," Captain replied blandly.

It was a beautiful weekend in Neotopia. The skies were clear, the weather was warm, and most importantly, there was no interdimensional crisis that needed to be solved. The Dark Axis had been gone for over a year, and besides a brief run-in with a thieving starfish-like alien, no one else had tried to take their place. The members of the Gundam Force were currently taking some time off in their home dimensions. Shute was using this little respite to pay a visit to a flea market right outside the Neotopia Tower. Fortunately for him, Captain was available to come along for the ride.

"Are you looking for anything in particular, Shute?" the Gundam asked as the two of them made their way through the market.

"Not really," Shute replied. "I'm just looking for anything that might look useful. Stuff to build more gadgets with, y'know?"

As he searched the various tables, however, he failed to see anything that caught his interest. Local artists had tables full of sculptures and trinkets, as well as framed paintings hanging from walls. Farmers were selling fruits and vegetables. Other vendors were selling odds and ends such as hand-made soaps and spices. There were also food stalls selling baked goods, cotton candy, popcorn, nachos, and pizza. Nice, but not what Shute was looking for.

After a few minutes of walking and looking, he finally found a booth that looked promising: a group of tables containing hand tools and various types of hardware. The owner was a rather drowsy-looking man in a sweatshirt covered in grease stains. He was sitting down and leaning against one of his tables, his head propped up in one hand. He seemed oblivious to Shute and Captain's presence as they approached.

The boy pawed through the tools as his robot friend quietly looked on. He looked through the wrenches, but they were either sizes he didn't need, or sizes he already had. The rest of the tools were screwdrivers and hammers, neither of which he was interested in. He skipped right over to the hardware, which largely consisted of metal and plastic pipes, fittings, fasteners, and joints.

Shute picked up a pair of long, thin plastic pipes and looked them over. He might be able to use these on his kite, but he wasn't sure if they were long enough. He turned to Captain, who was looking thoughtfully at a tray full of lugnuts.

"Hey Captain, could you tell me the dimensions on these?" Shute asked, handing the pipes over to the Gundam.

"Sure thing, Shute," Captain replied. He took the plastic tubes and held them up, one in each hand. His optics went glassy as he calculated their measurements.

As Shute turned back to the table to pick out more pipes, a purple glint caught his eye. He looked up to find a free-standing, full length mirror behind both the tool shop booth and the one next to it. The frame and stand were made from a dark wood and it stood upon four curled feet. The mirror itself was oval in shape, and the glass was tinted a medium shade of lavender at its edges.

Shute scratched his chin, and his reflection did the same.

_You know...,_ he thought. _We don't have one of those at home..._

There was a cabinet mirror in the bathroom, but he couldn't see anything below his chest in that one. There was also a half-length mirror in his room above his dresser. However, thanks to his room being rather cramped, he could never see anything below his waist before bumping up against his desk.

In addition to that, his mother's birthday was coming up next month. Maybe she'd like this mirror for her room? Even if she didn't, it might be handy to have around anyway.

"These pipes are approximately-"

Shute let out a yelp and whirled around to find Captain still holding up the pipes.

"Is something wrong, Shute?" he asked.

"Oh, uh...nothing, Captain!" the boy replied. "I just zoned out a little, I guess."

"I understand," Captain said. "Anyway, I wanted to let you know that these pipes are approximately one meter in length, and weigh zero-point-five-six kilograms. The inside diameter is two-point-five-four centimeters, and the outside diameter is three-point-three-four centimeters."

"Okay, thanks!" Shute took the pipes and placed them back on the table. "Let's just leave those here for now. I think I saw something else I wanna buy."

He turned to the tool vendor. "Uh, excuse me sir," he said.

The vendor did not respond, and a snore escaped his lips.

"Excuse me, sir!" Shute repeated himself slightly louder this time, and gently nudged the table.

The vendor snorted and immediately sat up. "Huh? Wha...?" he mumbled, staring groggily into space.

"I wanted to ask you about your mirror," Shute said, pointing at the object in question.

"Mirror? What...?" the vendor sluggishly turned to look at the thing Shute was pointing at. "Oh! That's not mine. You'll have to ask that guy."

The man pointed to the booth next to them. It was a set of three tables arranged in a half-circle and covered in white sheets. Most of the goods for sale were jewelry. There was cases of rings of every size in gold, silver, or even plastic. Some of them had inlaid gemstones, others did not. At least one ring had a large, empty hole where a gem should have been. There were pairs of earrings and cufflinks pinned to thin pieces of cardboard, and a handful of brooches shaped like flowers or butterflies. At the end of one table sat three vases: one blue, one red, and one light green. The lips of the blue and red ones were chipped; the light green one had a crack down one side.

The proprietor was a tall man with wide shoulders. He wore a trilby hat and trench coat despite it being rather warm outside. His face was hidden behind sunglasses and a surgical mask. He must not have heard the shopkeep, as he continued to stand very still and stare dead ahead at the crowds.

"Okay, thanks!" Shute said.

"No problem," the tool vendor said, yawning.

The boy stepped over to white kiosk with his robot friend following close behind. The booth had no signs, company names, or logos anywhere on the tablecloths.

"Excuse me, sir?" Shute asked.

"Hello, young man," the tall man said cheerfully, as he stiffly moved his head to look in the boy's direction. "What can I get you today?"

The man's voice was soft and high-pitched with an extreme nasal tone - so extreme, Shute swore the guy was doing it deliberately. There was also a metallic resonance to his voice, as if he were talking through a vocalizer. Was this guy some sort of cyborg? Shute didn't want to ask, however; that would be rude.

"I'd like to ask you about your mirror," he replied.

"Ah, you'd like my mirror?" the man said. He nodded, and his rigid upper body bowed forward with his head. "Good choice, good choice! For that, I'd say-"

"-About one hundred of your credits!" the man's voice suddenly became deep and harsh, with no nasal tone or metallic ring. The vendor slowly reached up and covered his mask mouth with a gloved hand. He let out a few good coughs. "Oh, pardon me!" he said, his voice returning to normal. "I just recently got over a cold. Anyway, I'm asking one hundred credits for the mirror."

"Wow, that's a little steep," Shute remarked.

"I do apologize," the tall man replied, "but you see, it's a family heirloom."

"No, I understand," the boy replied. He turned to his robot buddy. "What do you think, Captain?"

The tall man suddenly shuddered, seemingly in response to Shute saying the word "Captain." Meanwhile, Captain himself was glaring at the man with his head slightly bowed. The boy couldn't imagine why. Had the vendor said or done something that secretly offended the Gundam?

After a few moments of silence, Captain finally responded with, "Perhaps you should finish any necessary shopping first, then see if you have enough money afterward." He never took his optics off the tall man.

"Um...sure! Good point!" Shute said. He turned back to the vendor. "How long will you be open today?"

The man was quiet for nearly a minute. His stiff form swayed slightly, reminding Shute of a scarecrow.

"Uh...yes! Th-that's fine!" the vendor finally blurted out. "You take your time! We-I'll be here all day!"

"R-right," Shute gave Captain a little push away from the booth. "See ya later!"

The Gundam continued to eyeball the strange man as they returned to the tool shop. After waking the tool shop owner up again, Shute purchased the two long pipes Captain had measured earlier. Afterward, they headed over to the nearest pizza stand where Shute bought a slice of pizza and a soda. They found a picnic table to sit at, and the boy immediately tore into his pizza. Captain watched him eat.

"I wonder if that guy will let me buy that mirror for less," Shute said between bites. "Like maybe seventy-five credits, or something?"

"To be honest Shute, I don't think you should buy it," Captain replied.

"I know, I know it's a lot of money for someone my age," Shute said. "But when you think about it, it's not _that_ bad of a deal. A brand new mirror could cost well over a hundred credits!"

"I am not talking about the amount of money," Captain corrected him. "The man selling it seems very suspicious."

"Yeah, I was wondering what was going on back there between you and him," Shute said, putting down his pizza. "What didn't you like about him, Captain? I mean, I know he's kinda awkward..."

"It's his voice. I know I've heard his voice somewhere before, and I believe it belonged to one of our enemies."

"What? Which one? I thought the rest of the Dark Axis was in Ark with Genkimaru."

"Not a member of the Dark Axis, someone else. However, I am having difficulty deciphering who it is. His voice patterns are not matching up very well with any that I have on file. He may be talking through a filter."

Shute scratched his chin. "Y'know, sometimes people have similar voices. Maybe he just sorta sounds like somebody we fought before?"

"Perhaps," Captain lowered his head. "However, I still feel as if I should not trust him. Something about him is...off."

"Yeah...I understand," Shute sighed as he took another bite out of his pizza. He chewed for a minute, wondering what to do. On one hand, he really wanted to get that mirror for Mom. On the other hand, he didn't want to upset Captain by buying something from a person he didn't trust.

_Maybe I could try to negotiate with the guy anyway,_ he thought. _If he really is a con-man, he probably wouldn't wanna sell it for a lower price, right?_

He took another bite as he looked at Captain. The Gundam seemed to be staring into space, possibly processing that man's voice.

_Or maybe I shouldn't bother,_ Shute thought. _I could always get something else for Mom._

* * *

"Hey, do you think they'll let us take it on the bus? I don't wanna call Mom down here and spoil the surprise."

Shute and Captain were sitting on a bench at the Neotopia Tower bus stop. Shute had the plastic pipes crammed into his backpack, and Captain was holding onto the tinted mirror in one hand.

"If not, I could always fly it back to your house," the Gundam offered.

"No thanks, Captain," the boy replied. "Wouldn't want a bird or something to hit you mid-flight and make you drop it."

There were a few minutes of silence.

"I hope you don't mind that I went and bought the mirror, anyway," Shute said. "I know you didn't trust that guy."

"It is alright, Shute," Captain reassured him. "After all, he did not try to steal from you, and you were not harmed."

Shute chuckled. "Yeah, if anything, I stole from _him!_ I can't believe he let me buy for half the price!" He narrowed his eyes as something crossed his mind. "Say...you don't think he did that because there's something wrong with this thing, do you?"

"I would have to scan it to find out," Captain said. "However, just judging by its outward appearance, it does not look like it's made out of subpar materials."

"I hope not," the boy grumbled. "If he ripped me off and this mirror is made of something dangerous, I'll hafta let you know."

"Thank you, Shute," Captain said, "but if the mirror is made of hazardous substances, you should probably call a decontamination crew first."

There was another pause as Shute thought of something else. "Speaking of that guy, did you get a chance to analyze his voice?"

Captain shook his head. "Not yet. I will do it when I get back to base and have access to better sound analysis software. I hope that he is not someone we need to worry about."

"Yeah, I wish I could help you with that," Shute replied, scratching his head. "He didn't sound familiar to me at all, though."

It was right about then that people began to gather around the bus stop. In moments, there was a small crowd of them, making privacy almost impossible.

"Let's talk about that guy later," Shute whispered to Captain.

"Understood," Captain whispered back.

Minutes later, the next bus floated up to the stop, eased itself to the ground, and began to let passengers in. Fortunately for them, Shute and Captain were able to take the mirror on board without any protests from the bus's AI. After paying, they sat in side-facing seats and tried to keep the mirror out of the aisle as much as possible. A few commuters gave them sideways glances. Others were checking themselves out, adjusting the clothes, or fixing their hair.

_How about that,_ Shute thought. _It's already getting used!_

He turned the mirror toward himself and gave himself a good once-over. His hair looked a little frizzy from all the humidity, and he ran a hand through it. Upon doing so, something caught his eye. Dead center and contrasting sharply against his red jacket was a tiny white speck.

Thinking it was dust, he tried to wipe it off with a finger. It didn't come off. Was it some kind of tiny flaw or scratch? He ran a fingernail over it, but couldn't feel anything.

_No wonder that guy suddenly wanted to negotiate,_ he thought.

Then again, the flaw _was_ incredibly tiny. The only reason he found out about it was because he was right up on top of it. Maybe his mom wouldn't notice it...and if she _did_ notice it, maybe she wouldn't mind.

He would just have to see how it played out. In the meantime, he just hoped that tiny crack wouldn't grow any bigger.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** _Superior Defender Gundam Force_ is owned by Bandai and Sunrise. I just write about it in my spare time. Also, the lyrics used in this chapter belong to Boston.

**Spectrophobia  
Chapter 2**

"Just put it over there, Captain."

"Here?" the Gundam in question asked as he placed the purple-tinted mirror in a corner of Shute's workshop. He stepped out of the way so that his human friend could see.

"That's perfect," Shute said, nodding. "Mom almost never comes back here, so it should be safe. I hope she likes it!"

"I'm certain she will, Shute," Captain replied, running a finger along the frame. "I am no expert in interior decorating, but I do think it looks sturdy and aesthetically pleasing."

"Well, if it turns out she doesn't, I could always keep it in the guest room or something," the boy mused. "Or give it to somebody else." He looked over his reflection. "I just hope nobody minds the purple edges. It looks like someone tried to stain the glass, but gave up."

Captain gazed into the mirror and lowered his head. He let out a soft, "Hmm..."

"What's up?" Shute asked, looking at him. "Something wrong?"

Captain looked up at him. "This may be hard to believe but...," he began, "this material may not be glass."

"Huh? Come again?" Shute raised an eyebrow at the Gundam.

"You were concerned about this mirror potentially containing dangerous substances," Captain explained, "so I took the liberty of scanning it while we were on the bus. While the reflective backing is normal silver, I did not pick up any alumina or silica within the glass itself. I did not even find germanium. If it is a type of glass, it is not one that is in my database."

"But what is it then?" Shute walked up to the mirror and gave it a suspicious stare. "Is is plastic, or something?" He gave it a poke.

"I'm afraid I don't know," Captain answered. "I checked to see if it was acrylic, but it came up negative for carbon. I compared it to other minerals, and results were inconclusive."

"By any chance did you find traces of anything dangerous?" the boy asked, backing away from the mirror. "I mean, I was just kidding when I said that!"

"Well, I did not pick up any traces of toxic or flammable materials," Captain replied. "I am also not detecting any radioactivity. For now, it seems safe for you and your family to use."

"Well, that's a relief," Shute said as a bead of sweat rolled down his brow. "Especially about the radioactivity!"

"Still, it is difficult to be certain without knowing what exactly this substance is," Captain replied. "Its anomalous nature has me curious. While I would like to bring it to Blanc Base to study it, I would not want it to get damaged along the way. Perhaps I could download more advanced mineralogical software and re-scan it on my next visit?"

"Okay, but...what if we can't figure out what it is before Mom's birthday?"

"Your mother's birthday is a month away, correct?" the Gundam said. "I am ninety-percent certain that I will be able to identify the substance by then."

"Great! And if for some reason you don't, well...I guess you can take it, and I'll buy Mom something else then." Shute scratched the back of his head as he decided to change the subject. "Anyway, it's going to be a few more hours until dinner. You wanna hang out and watch TV until then?"

"Sure, I'd love to," Captain nodded.

"Great! _Space Highway_ is coming on in a few minutes," Shute said as he walked over to the door. "I think it's the one where they find a gold mine infested with microbots."

"Is that the same cartoon that features a talking dog that is mildly obsessed with acquiring large amounts of money in a short amount of time?" Captain asked.

"No, you're thinking of _The Enchanted Cave_," the boy explained as he opened the door and stepped outside. "That one only airs on weekends."

The boy and his robot friend left the workshop, and headed down the long wooden walkway to the house. The strange mirror sat innocuously in its corner. Moments later, a faint gleam radiated from its center.

* * *

A week had passed since the flea market excursion. Shute had just finished his dinner and had gone up to his room to finish his math homework. The lesson was long division, and all work had to be shown on an electronic worksheet. Answers had to be whole numbers with a remainder, no decimals or fractions allowed. The worksheet disabled copying and pasting in order to discourage cheating. He cradled his cheek in his palm as he slowly plodded his way through twenty problems.

"...Remainder three," he muttered to himself as he typed in an answer. "Just ten more to go..."

The problem was one hundred and twenty-nine divided by sixty-four.

"Couldn't be a hundred and twenty-_eight_ huh?" Shute grumbled as he balanced a pencil between his upper lip and nose.

He reached over to type in his answer. Just as he pressed one of the number keys, a sudden blasting electric guitar riff caused him to jump and nearly fall out of his chair. The pencil on his lip went flying and bounced off the wall.

Shute sat still for a moment, rubbing his ringing ears and trying to regain his senses. He then glared behind him, in the general direction of his father's recording studio. "Aw Dad, didja _hafta_ start practicing _now?!_" he groaned.

Never mind, he could do this. After erasing the long string of ones that he accidentally typed, he entered one hundred and twenty-eight underneath the dividend. Just as he placed a one in the remainder box, however, a different noise startled him again.

"_**Now if you're feelin' kinda low 'bout the dues you've been payin'**_," his father's voice blared from down the hallway. "_**Future's coming much too slo-o-ow!**_"

Oh, no. Dad's loud guitars he could tolerate, but not his singing. Shute closed his laptop, left his room, and marched down the hall. The studio was at the end, and its door was closed - not that keeping that door closed did any good. But before the boy could knock and tell his father to keep it down, something caught his eye. There was a bright gleam coming from the guest bedroom next to him.

Curious, Shute forgot about the wailing electric guitar for a second and entered the darkened bedroom. The glare was actually coming through the window from a point by the trees in the distance. Upon closer inspection, he found out that the light was coming from the workshop. Did he leave the light on accidentally? No...this light was _purple._

He dashed out of the room, down the hall and through the kitchen. He stopped short when he reached the living room, as his mother and infant sister were in between him and the door. Keiko was sitting on the couch in the middle of the room, watching the news. Nana was bouncing around in her playpen; apparently, she actually appreciated Dad's music.

Shute slipped into the room as quietly as he could manage, trying to stay out of his mother's line of sight. He managed to sneak behind her all the way to the door. Nana looked at him a few times, but she was too busy "dancing" to make a noise at him.

But just as he grabbed his shoes from their spot beside the door...

"Shute, where are you going at this time of night?!"

The boy let out a gasp and nearly dropped his shoes. He turned to see Keiko staring at him sternly.

"I'm, uh...I'm just going to the workshop, Mom!" he stammered.

"What?!" Keiko shouted, bending her ear forward. "I can't hear over your father's music!"

"I said I'm just going to the workshop, Mom!" Shute shouted over the din as he slipped his shoes on. "I forgot something in there!"

"Did you finish your homework already?!" Keiko called back.

"Uh...yeah Mom! All done!" He felt rotten for lying to his mother's face like that, but this was urgent.

"Okay, but make sure you're back before bedtime!" she shouted. He then thought he heard her say something about going to tell Dad to turn it down.

Before she could ask any more questions, he slipped out the door. He ran across the front deck to find bright purple light flooding out of the workshop's windows. He hurried down the walkway, threw open the shop's door, and found the place bathed in a neon lavender glow. The mirror was sitting in its corner, its glass the source of this strange light.

"Whoa...," Shute breathed, shielding his eyes from the light. "What's it doing? Is it some kinda fluorescent mineral?"

He waved his hand in front of it. He didn't feel any heat or coldness, but he figured that it still might be unsafe to touch. He spotted one of the pipes he bought at the flea market in the opposite corner of the room. He grabbed one, brought it over to the mirror, and gingerly poked the glass.

The pipe went right through its surface.

Shute let out a yelp and nearly fell down. The pipe slipped out of his hand and tumbled to the floor. He leaned against a wall to regain his balance and took a few deep breaths before picking the pipe back up. He carefully shoved it about halfway into the mirror. It didn't seem touch anything, not even where the wall should be. He waved it around. After nothing happened, he pulled it back out. The inserted end looked no different than before; no scorch marks, no ice, no strange fluids nor dust.

His mind raced as he put the pipe down. What was this mirror made of, really? Why could objects go right through its surface? Was it some sort of portal? What kind of material could create portals? Had it been doing this all week, and he didn't notice until now? But most importantly, if that was a portal, _where did it lead to?_

Shute had watched enough episodes of _Space Highway_ and other sci-fi shows to know walking right into it was a bad idea. Instead, he grabbed his aerial drone and its remote control from off a shelf. He turned it on, but the drone did not respond. Its propellers didn't spin, nor did any of its lights come on. He looked at the display to check its battery levels. Empty.

_Aww, man!_ he thought. _I KNEW I should've plugged this thing in!_

He grabbed the drone's charge cord off the same shelf and plugged it into the nearest outlet. It would take about ten minutes for the drone to be charged enough to reliably fly. Shute looked at the shining mirror and wondered how long the "portal" would stay open. All night? A few hours? A few minutes?

The temptation to go look for himself was getting stronger.

_Don't you do it, Shute!_ he thought. Sure, it _might_ lead to a relatively safe location like somewhere else on Earth. However, there was an equally likely chance that it led to an airless void or some surreal dimension with completely different laws of physics. According to some of his comic books, it could even lead to a universe that would "reject" him, causing him to die instantly.

If he was smart, he'd stop what he was doing and call Captain immediately.

_...But I'm not,_ he thought as he walked up to the mirror and stuck his left hand through the portal.

The other side was slightly warmer than his side. He could feel a slight cool breeze through his fingers. He pulled his arm back out and looked it over. He still had all of his fingers, and his arm wasn't rotting off - that was a good sign.

Still unsure if this other place had a breathable atmosphere or wasn't full of deadly alien microbes, Shute took a deep breath and held it. Then he held on to the mirror frame for support as he stuck his head through the portal.

The first thing he saw was trees against a blue sky, illuminated by sunlight from the east. He recognized the trees as the ones around the workshop - one of the maple trees even had the same broken branch. He looked beneath him, but could not see any part of his shed on this side. The only thing down there was tall grasses waving in that cool breeze from earlier. However, he did see a few broken pieces of lumber scattered among that grass.

He looked over in the direction of his house to see if it existed in this dimension. He let out a muffled cry through his held breath when he found it. It _did_ exist in this universe, or rather had existed. Blackened support beams left an outline of where it once stood. Rubble made from seared, pulverized bricks and burned wood lay strewn about everywhere. He spotted colorful shards of the stained glass windows twinkling in the sunlight. It was surrounded by fallen trees and burnt grass.

What had happened here? Shute barely had any time to contemplate this mystery when he heard a voice.

"Who is there?"

He spat out his held breath as he nearly jumped out of his skin. He pulled his head out of the mirror, fell backwards, and landed on his rear. He coughed and sputtered as he crawled backwards away from the mirror. Somehow, he found the strength to get to his feet and scramble out the door. He ran down the walkway and stopped at the first flight of stairs, trying to catch his breath. His heart was pounding in his ears.

When no alien lifeforms emerged from the workshop, Shute walked back to the doorway and peered inside. The mirror continued to glow, but no strange creatures were wandering around the room.

With that, Shute slammed the door shut and ran back up the stairs to his house. He needed to call Captain and have him take that thing away!


	3. Chapter 3

**Spectrophobia  
Chapter 3**

It was an uneventful night at the Blanc Base. Security guards were patrolling the hallways. Janitors were emptying garbage cans and mopping floors. The overnight crew was just beginning to come in.

His duties done for the day, Captain Gundam headed over to the elevators located in the atrium. He stepped into one of them and pressed the button for the top floor.

Between training and maintenance, he hadn't had much time to work on his pet projects during the previous week. So far, he had only been able to ask around about the mysterious mineral in Shute's mirror. Unfortunately, the Blanc Base only had three scientists with geological backgrounds, and all three of them said that they had never heard of such a substance. They also told him that they would need a sample to run tests on. Unless he could get permission to drag the mirror up here, it looked like he would have download some mineralogy software and perform another analysis on it himself. He would do that later, however; right now, he wanted to investigate something he thought was more important - that strange flea market vendor, and why his voice sounded so familiar.

The elevator reached the top floor, and Captain stepped out into a darkened hallway. Motion-sensing lights lit up as he walked past Chief Haro's empty office. At the end of the hall was a room filled with sound recording equipment. He wasn't sure why it was there, but he was grateful it was. Perhaps there were some devices inside that he could use to properly analyze the voice clips.

Just as he was about to open the door to the studio, he suddenly got a call on his personal communicator. The call was from Shute's cell phone number; he immediately accepted it.

"Hi, Captain?" Shute's voice said.

"Good evening, Shute," the Gundam replied. "Is something wrong? You are calling at such a late hour, and I believe you have school tomorrow."

"Uh, yeah, you could say that," Shute said cryptically. "Remember that mirror I bought for Mom last week?"

"Why, yes. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any useful information about the glass-like material." Captain paused. "Did something happen to it?"

"Well, it didn't break or anything like that. Are you sitting down right now?"

Captain opened the door to the studio and peeked inside. There was a swivel chair in the room, but it stood upon a single thin leg.

"Actually, I am standing up right now," he answered. "The only chair in my immediate surroundings is not built to hold my weight."

"That's okay," Shute said. "But maybe you should lean up against a wall or something...because you are _not_ gonna believe what's going on right now!"

* * *

The air was filled with the sounds of propellers as a Gunperry descended from the sky near Shute's house. Because the house was surrounded by so many trees, the vessel could not land on the property. Instead, it had to land in a nearby field a few kilometers away. Grass and leaves flew everywhere as the Gunperry eased itself to the ground.

Inside the aircraft, Captain Gundam was seated in a steel chair, waiting for the landing to finish. Obtaining clearance to come down from the base was easier than he predicted. The SDG had already picked up the timespace anomaly but was having difficulty pinpointing its location due to its small size. After informing them about Shute's strange mirror and its very recently discovered transdimensional properties, he volunteered to contain it. His proposal was immediately approved. He also made sure to acquire clearance to use one of his battle modes and to bring some weapons; Shute said that he had heard a voice on the other side of that portal, and warned Captain to "come prepared." However, because this task was considered low risk, he was only allowed to use his default mode and to take a light beam rifle and shield.

The Gunperry's hatch opened, the door folding out into a ramp.

"We've arrived, Captain. Over," the pilot announced over the PA system.

"Roger," the Gundam replied. "This should not take long. I estimate that I will return within fifteen minutes."

Captain gathered his rifle and shield before leaving the Gunperry. Once outside, he started up his jet boosters and flew over the lightly wooded area to Shute's house. Down below, he spotted his human friend running out of the house to greet him. He looked over at the workshop and could see purple light shining out of the round windows.

"Hey! Captain! Down here!" Shute shouted, waving his arms.

The Gundam swooped down and landed on the deck. His human friend ran over to meet him. In the dim light of the outdoor lamps, Captain noticed that Shute's complexion looked a shade paler, and that he was sweating.

"Good evening, Shute," he said. "Has anything happened since our phone conversation?"

"Not that I could see," Shute explained. "I kept an eye on the workshop from inside the house. Nothing came out, that much I know." He lowered his voice. "But I'm not sure if there's anything _inside_ the workshop right now. I didn't wanna leave the house again, 'cause I was afraid Mom and Dad might get suspicious."

"I understand," Captain replied. He turned to face the workshop, which was still glowing brightly. "Let's retrieve the mirror before anything happens."

"Right!"

They hurried across the deck to the stairs. As they were about to go down, however, a loud voice behind them made them stop in their tracks.

"Heeey Captain! Didn't know you were stoppin' by!"

Shute grabbed on to the railing to stop himself from falling down the stairs. They both slowly turned around to see Shute's father walking out of the house.

"Uh...hi, Dad!" the boy said nervously.

"Good evening, Mark," Captain said.

"Is everything okay out here?" Mark asked. "You guys are out here awful late. It's almost bedtime!" He turned to Captain and pointed at his beam gun. "And I can't help but notice that you're packin' heat!"

"Well, um...you see Dad," Shute stammered, "I have something to give Captain, and he didn't have time to put his stuff away!"

"Er...yes! That's correct," the Gundam nodded.

"Oh, okay. I gotcha," Mark replied. "Hey, do you need any help? You look like you got your hands full!"

"N-no, that's okay Dad!" Shute said, holding up his hands. "We're fine. We got this!"

"Yes, the item Shute wants to give me is easy to carry," Captain explained. "But thanks for the offer."

"Okay, no problem!" Mark said. He paused just long enough for Shute and Captain to think they were off the hook before adding, "What is it, if you don't mind me askin'?"

Shute almost fell over. His lower eyelids and fingers began to twitch, and the only thing he could think to respond with was, "Uhhhh...?"

"Shute needs help identifying a mineral for his science class," the Gundam quickly interjected. "There is one test that he does not have the equipment for, so I offered to do it for him."

"Oh, is that all?" Mark said, shrugging. "Well, okay then! By the way, could you guys turn that light off when you're done? It's been on all night!"

With that, he turned and walked back toward the house.

Shute waited until his father was out of earshot before whispering, "That was a good one, Captain! Now let's get going before he comes back!"

"Roger!" the Gundam replied.

Shute turned and dashed down the walkway as fast as he could, with Captain taking to the air. Upon reaching the workshop, the boy stood on tiptoe and tried to look into the window above it. Unfortunately, he was still too short to reach it; all he could see was the bright purple glow streaming out of it. Instead, he put his ear to the door and listened for anything that might be inside. Meanwhile, Captain landed on the roof and peered down through the porthole.

"I'm assuming that light means the portal is still open?" he called down to Shute.

"I think so!" Shute shouted back up. "I'm not hearing anything down here! How about you?"

Captain walked over to the roof's edge. "I did not detect any sign of alien lifeforms from up here," he reported. "However, that may be because I am not at a good vantage point." He activated his jets and floated down to the walkway behind Shute. "I'll go in through the front door and check it out, just to be certain," he said, holding up his rifle.

"Right!" Shute nodded and scooted out of Captain's way.

The Gundam attached his shield to his back and grabbed the doorknob. He slowly turned it and cracked open the door just enough to see in. He saw the mirror in that corner he had placed it in last week, only now it was emitting that bright purple light. He detected a spacetime anomaly within it, as well as beta decay.

Captain scanned the room for any signs of life. He detected no unidentified heat signatures or movement.

He opened the door wide. "It looks like no lifeforms have emerged from the portal," he said stepping inside. He kept his gun ready just in case something escaped his scanners.

"That's a relief," Shute said, following his Gundam friend inside. "I thought for sure that person on the other side was gonna follow me!"

Captain held up a hand. "Actually Shute, you should remain at a safe distance outside," he explained. "I am detecting low levels of beta radiation coming from the mirror."

"_Radiation?!_" Shute squawked as he backed against a wall. "Aw man, I stuck my head in there!"

"You...put your head through the portal?" The Gundam's optics went wide. "You did not tell me that before. That was rather dangerous."

"Yeah...I know," the boy sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. "But I tested it out before I did it! And besides, now I know that portal leads to another Neotopia!"

"Another Neotopia?" Captain tilted his head. "How much of it were you able to see?"

"Sorry, but I didn't get a good look at it," Shute replied. "I know it's not an exact match, though. My house on the other side was burned down for some reason!"

"I see," Captain nodded. "We will have to investigate this other Neotopia some other time. For now, let's get this mirror back to the base."

He stepped over to the object in question and stared into its glowing portal. Out of curiosity, he reached out with his free hand and tried to touch the "glass." His fingers went through it as if it wasn't even there.

"Fascinating," he said softly.

Realizing that he was getting distracted, Captain snapped himself out of his reverie and picked up the mirror by one of the stand's side bars. Shute gave him a wide berth as he carried it out of the workshop.

"If you guys find out anything interesting, let me know, okay?" the boy said as he stood in the doorway.

"Certainly," the Gundam agreed. "However, we may have to wait until tomorrow for any conclusive results. I am not sure there are many people on the night shift who can analyze this portal. I hope that it is still open in the morning."

"Yeah, me too," Shute replied. "Anyway, have a safe trip back to base!"

"Roger," Captain said. "Good night, Shute, and have a good day at school."

The Gundam activated his boosters, preparing to fly back to the Gunperry. However, he was only two feet off the ground when a disembodied mechanical arm emerged from the mirror's surface.

"Wha-! What the heck?!" Shute shouted, jumping backwards.

Captain gasped upon seeing the arm, and nearly fell out of the air. Fortunately, he managed to snap out of his shock fast enough to reorient himself and land softly on the grass. He leaned the mirror against one of the workshop's walls and carefully backed away. He slowly removed his shield from his back and raised his gun. Meanwhile, the arm flailed around with its fingers grasping, seemingly looking for something to latch onto. It was covered in white armor which was similar in shape to his own. Its hand had five digits including an opposable thumb and was protected by dark grey plates.

Shute hopped down into the grass behind Captain. "What do you think it is?" he whispered.

"I don't-" Captain cut himself off when the arm retreated back into the portal. It was replaced a moment later by a white robot's head. It sported a very familiar white face mask and pair of golden horns. It gazed around its new surroundings, making observations to itself.

"Current temperature 26.67 degrees Celsius," it said in an extremely familiar, yet more monotone voice. "Atmospheric composition is 70.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen-"

Its optics finally landed on the boy and the Gundam standing a few yards away. "Oh! It seems I have company," it said.

The robot gripped the inside of the frame as it stepped through the mirror and down onto the grass. Once Captain got a good long look at the new visitor, his optics went wide and his mouth flap involuntarily fell open underneath his mask. He lowered his gun and shield.

Shute gasped. "C-Captain! He's...he's _you!_"

Standing before them was indeed a near identical copy of Captain Gundam. The armor on his head and limbs were white. His torso armor was mainly blue with highlights of grey, yellow, and red plates. Golden SDG badges adorned his pauldrons. Small tires were attached to his heels. On his upper back was a white pack containing his beam saber; he didn't appear to have any other weapons on hand. The only major difference was the color of his optics, which were a matte pastel blue.

"I see that the language spoken here is the same as mine," he said. "In that case, good morning to you both. Or evening, as it is here. Apparently, there is a twelve hour difference between our dimensions."

"Uh, hi!" Shute said. He tried to wave to the other robot, but his arm kept shaking.

"Y-yes, good evening!" Captain stammered. He slowly placed his rifle on the ground and extended a hand to his twin. "I am Captain Gundam of the Super Dimensional Guard. I would like to welcome you to the city of Neotopia of Earth."

The other Captain stepped forward and shook hands.

"I am Captain Zephyranthes, also of the Super Dimensional Guard," he replied. "It is a pleasure to meet you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Spectrophobia  
Chapter 4**

"So, Captain...Zephyranthes," Captain Gundam began, "what brings you to our dimension?"

"Approximately two hours ago, I detected a small spacetime anomaly on the outskirts of Neotopia," the other Captain replied. "I flew over to investigate. When I arrived, I had difficulty pinpointing the exact location of the anomaly. However, I was able to find it when this young man's head emerged from it."

He pointed to Shute, who let out an embarrassed chuckle and rubbed the back of his head.

"Afterward, I took some time to assess the stability of the portal," Zephyranthes continued. "Once I determined that it was safe, I passed through it. And so, here I am."

"I see," Captain said with a nod. "Once again, welcome! This is the first time I've ever met another Captain Gundam."

"Yes, meeting one's dimensional alternate is quite fascinating. And very fortunate, too," Zephyranthes' monotone voice suddenly became lower in pitch. "For you see, I am also here for a much more serious matter."

"Really?" Shute raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"I regret having to ask you this because we have only just met, and I would not like to be a burden," the other Gundam said, lowering his head. "However, I have no choice. I am in dire need of assistance."

"Don't worry, you're not a burden to us," Captain replied, extending a hand. "Go ahead and tell us what's wrong. My SDG is ready to help anyone in need."

"Captain's right," Shute nodded. "By any chance, are you having trouble with some robots called the Dark Axis? We already defeated them over here, so we'll have no problem beating those guys again!"

Zephyranthes shook his head. "Negative. The Dark Axis did attack my Neotopia, but they were defeated approximately one year and thirty-five days ago," he answered. "However, three days after their defeat, the humans of my Neotopia staged a coup. My SDG was overthrown, and I have been in hiding ever since." He lowered his head again.

Shute and Captain took a step back out of shock. "Wait, what?" the boy cried. "Why would they do that?!"

"I have been unable to determine the reasons behind the coup," Zephyranthes explained. "I do not know if anyone else has uncovered their motivations, as I have lost all communication with my friends and colleagues since the fall of my SDG."

"Oh, man! That's terrible!" Shute said, covering his mouth with a hand.

...Wasn't it? He scratched his chin. A sudden feeling of wrongness began to creep into his mind, but he couldn't figure out why.

"It is safe to assume that you will need help taking back your city from the rebels?" Captain asked.

"Yes, absolutely," the other Gundam agreed. "I do not mean to take up so much of your time and resources, but I must bring peace back to my Neotopia."

"Please, do not worry," Captain reassured him, patting his shoulder. "I'm sure your SDG would do the same for us."

"Yes, of course," Zephyranthes nodded and averted his optics.

"Alright. The first step would be to get you and this portal back to the Blanc Base," Captain continued. "Do you think that you may have been followed?"

"Not to my knowledge," Zephyranthes said. "The only organisms I detected on my side of the portal were the local wildlife."

Only the wildlife? Shute shivered, remembering the charred version of his house in that other dimension. He was tempted to ask what happened, but decided against it; he doubted the other Captain actually knew. It was probably burned to the ground by the rebels, or something.

The rebels. Now that he thought about it, there was something awfully strange about them besides their seeming lack of a cause...

"Good," Captain said. "I'll inform the Gunperry that we're coming." He opened up his communication link with the vessel. "This is Captain Gundam, do you read me?"

"Read you loud and clear, Captain," the pilot's voice replied over Captain's speakers. "I was starting to get a little worried - you were gone for over fifteen minutes!"

"I apologize for that," the Gundam replied. "I am now returning with the portal. I also have a refugee with me that needs to be taken to Blanc Base."

"A refugee?!" the pilot exclaimed. "Well, that explains a lot. Okay, I'll let the base know they've got company. Over."

As Captain closed the link, Shute finally saw his opportunity. He cautiously stepped forward and said, "Hey before you guys fly off, I got a question."

"What is it, Shute?" Captain asked.

The boy turned to their guest. "Uhh, Captain...Francis, was it?"

"Zephyranthes," the other Gundam corrected him.

"Right. Anyway, I wanted to ask you about those rebels..." Shute paused for a second because he swore he saw Zephyranthes' joints stiffen up. "Is it _only_ the-"

"Hey, Shute! Where are ya?!" Mark's voice called in the distance. "C'mon, it's time for bed!"

"Aw, man!" the boy grumbled. He turned around and shouted, "I'll be right there dad!" across the yard. He then said to the Gundams, "Sorry guys, but I gotta go. I'll talk to ya later."

"Understood." Shute definitely saw Zephyranthes' body relax.

"Alright," Captain replied. "Once we make a plan of action, I'll contact you immediately. I'll also inform your parents in case you'll need to report for duty."

"Okay, thanks! See you guys tomorrow!" Shute waved as he ran off toward his house.

"Good night and have a good day at school!" Captain called as he waved back.

A moment later, the boy heard the whine of small jets behind him. He looked over his shoulder and watched as the Gundams flew into the air and disappeared into the night sky. He climbed the hill to the front deck and found his father leaning against the rail, waiting for him.

"Hey, you were gone for a long time!" Mark said. "I was startin' to get worried! Didja give Captain your rocks, or whatever?"

"Uh, yeah Dad," Shute answered as he walked toward the porch. "He's got it. He'll let me know when he's done lookin' at it."

"Okay, I gotcha," Mark said, following behind. "By the way, who was that other guy you were talking to?"

Shute froze. "What other guy?"

"You know, the other robot," Mark pointed in the general direction that the Gundams flew off in. "The one that took off with Captain. It was kinda hard to see out there, but I swear they kinda looked like him too..."

"Uhh...?!" Had he been watching the whole time? While it wasn't necessary to lie about interdimensional travelers anymore, Shute doubted his father would believe that another Captain Gundam emerged from a magic mirror. "That was just somebody who got lost in the woods! Captain's taking him home now."

"Wow, good thing you guys were out there, then!" Mark replied. "Anyway, you better get your butt to bed. It's really late!"

"Yeah...sure thing, Dad," the boy said. With that, he stepped inside the house, ran down the hallway, and ducked into his room. He quickly closed the door behind him and prayed his father didn't have any more questions.

* * *

At the same time, the two Gundams arrived at the waiting Gunperry. After having to be reassured that he was not "seeing double," and that there was, in fact, another Captain Gundam right in front of him, the pilot opened up the hatches. Zephyranthes went inside the cabin while Captain went over to the cargo bay with the mirror. He placed it in the smallest crate he could fit it into, strapped it down, and covered it with sheets. He wanted to make sure that there was no chance this thing was going to shatter, as he assumed the portal would disappear if it did. He then joined Zephyranthes in the cabin, sitting on a bench across from him. The pilot closed all the doors, and the Gunperry took off.

After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Zephyranthes asked, "Does your dimension have the technology to put an interdimensional portal in any household object?"

"No," Captain replied, shaking his head. "We actually don't know who created that portal or how. Shute acquired the mirror from a flea market last week, and we just discovered its interdimensional properties today. I have been wanting to identify the mirror's vendor, but I have not had the time to do so yet."

"Interesting," Zephyranthes said. His pale optics shifted around before he said, "Speaking of your human friend, may I ask you something about him?"

Captain titled his head slightly. "Human friend"? Didn't his twin know Shute's name?

"Sure, what is it?" he asked.

"You mentioned something about him 'reporting for duty' even though he is clearly a minor. Did your SDG actually employ him, despite his age? Is it not dangerous for such a young human to be an SDG agent?"

Captain paused, not sure what to say at first. "Y-yes, we did," he answered. "That is, we made him an honorary member of the Gundam Force. Did...you not do the same for your Shute?"

"Negative," Zephyranthes answered. "My SDG has not employed anyone under the age of eighteen."

"But...if your Shute is not part of your Gundam Force," Captain continued, "how do you activate your Soul Drive?"

"I was unaware that a Soul Drive could 'activate,'" the other Gundam said. "How does one 'activate' it, and what happens?"

"Well...Soul Drives activate by synchronizing with a human's mind," Captain explained. "In my case, I synchronize with Shute's mind. When this happens my energy output increases at an exponential rate."

"Can it only synchronize with a human's mind?" Captain detected sudden harshness in Zephyranthes' voice.

"I'm...not sure," Captain replied. "So far, my Soul Drive has only been able to synchronize with Shute. But I assume that it can only be activated by humans, because they are the ones that created it."

"Understood," Zephyranthes said, his voice still slightly sour. "Now that you mention it, I did experience an overflow of energy during my first battle with Zapper Zaku."

"Was your Shute with you?"

Zephyranthes paused for a moment to check his files. "Yes. According to my memory banks and face recognition program, a pre-pubescent human resembling your friend Shute was there. He was returning my shield after I had accidentally left it at his home. That was the only time this phenomenon happened, and coincidentally, that was the last time I saw the young human."

"Oh. I understand." Captain lowered his head. He couldn't help but feel sorry for his twin; not only did he lose his home, but he also missed out on a wonderful friendship.

"I suppose it was not necessary after all," the other Gundam said with a shrug. "I was able to defeat the Dark Axis without using it. It is difficult to determine how much it would have helped me against the rebels."

"I'm curious, how _were_ you able to defeat the Dark Axis?" Captain asked. "For me, Soul Drive activation was crucial - especially during dire situations such their full-scale invasion of my Neotopia."

"Your Dark Axis managed to invade your Neotopia?" Zephyranthes asked, tilting his head.

Captain looked down at the floor. "Yes, they did."

"I apologize. I did not mean to imply that you were incompetent," Zephyranthes said. "On the contrary, perhaps your Dark Axis was much more competent. Mine largely consisted of unintelligent drones, and those few that were intelligent were very irrational. Therefore, it was easy for me to ha-"

The PA system suddenly crackled. "Captain, we are now approaching Blanc Base!" the pilot's voice said.

"Roger," Captain replied. He turned back to his guest. "Are you in need of any repairs? If you do, we should take you to see the maintenance team first."

"Negative," Zephyranthes answered. "I do not need any major repairs. However, I have not had preventative maintenance in over a year, so perhaps I should pay your team a visit anyway."

Captain found it strange that his guest was in such good shape after everything that happened, but decided not to question it. "Tomorrow, we'll gather together the rest of the Gundam Force. Then we'll make a plan of action to liberate your Neotopia."

"Understood."

The two Gundams strapped themselves in as the Blanc Base's finger-like runways became visible in the windows. The Gunperry gently began its descent toward the landing strips.

* * *

Shute lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He had way too much on his mind to fall asleep. The image of his burned house was stuck in his head. It reminded him of that nightmarish false future General Zeong tried to torture him with. He sincerely hoped the other Shute survived somehow.

And then there was the other Captain...Zep? Zeffer? Uh, "the other Captain." Something was...off about him. Was it those blank optics of his? They were pretty creepy; they almost looked painted on. Or maybe it was because his story didn't really add up. Before his dad interrupted him, he tried to ask if it _only_ the humans that rebelled. The other Captain certainly made it sound that way. If that was the case, then why only the humans? Did something happen to the mobile citizens? He debated about whether or not it was a good idea to ask the other Captain again; he acted awful tense the first time.

He realized that this was probably how his Captain felt around that strange vendor that sold him the mirror. And speaking of which, what kind of guy goes around selling mirrors with portals in them? Did he even know about it?

...Maybe he was somebody from that other dimension, and was trying to make sure nobody followed him? No, never mind...if that was true, he would have just broke the mirror.

Shute sighed. _One thing's for sure,_ he thought. _I'm gonna hafta buy Mom something else for her birthday._


	5. Chapter 5

**Spectrophobia  
Chapter 5**

"As Chief of this Super Dimensional Guard, I would like to welcome you, Captain Zephyranthes, to this Neotopia."

It was the morning after the mirror and the Gundam in question had been recovered. Captain and his twin were standing in the courtyard of the Blanc Base. Chief Haro himself stood before them, extending a hand to their esteemed guest.

"Thank you," Zephyranthes replied, shaking Haro's hand. "It is an honor to meet you."

"Now then," the chief continued, "the first item on our agenda is to create a proper gateway to your dimension. We do not know how long the portal you used to come here will remain open. Right now, the mirror has been relocated to Lab C, where our Dimensional Transport Device resides. Our theoretical physics expert is determining the coordinates as we speak.

"Once we are able to create our own portal, we will get in contact with our members from Lacroa and Ark. When everyone is together, we will make our strategy to liberate your Neotopia from the insurgents."

"Understood," Zephyranthes said, lowering his head. "I am very grateful that you are doing this for me. I apologize for being such a burden."

"Please don't say that," Haro said, shaking his head. "You are not a burden. Giving aid to anyone in the multiverse is a major part of the SDG's purpose." He leaned back against his desk. "Now...can you tell us more about these rebels? Any information you have would be helpful."

The other Gundam stared into space for a moment as he retrieved the memory files. "Well, they are mostly comprised of humans. I have counted approximately only fifty mobile citizens among their ranks. They do not seem to have a leader, but the name 'Randolph Connor' comes up a lot in their communications. Their most common method of defense is a jamming signal that blocks access to the Brain World. This is all of the information that I can confirm."

Chief Haro nodded. "That is alright. I think what you told us is good enough." He turned to Captain. "Captain, I will need you to go down to Lab C and meet with Zero and Bakunestumaru when they arrive here. Then you must bring them back here for a formal briefing."

"Roger," Captain replied. "Do you want me to bring Shute as well?"

The chief sighed and paused for a minute in thought. "Yes," he finally said. "Though we may not need him right away, it is for the best that he also receives all the latest information as well."

"Yes sir," the Gundam said as he brought up a list of contacts in his field of vision. "I will get in contact with both him and his mother right now."

"One more thing, Captain," Haro said.

Captain stopped himself just as he selected Shute and Keiko's phone numbers. "Yes?"

"Don't pull him out of class this time," the chief added. "Wait until school is out and pick him up afterward. I wouldn't want to upset his mother."

"Yes, Chief. I am sending a message now."

"Shall I accompany him to your Dimensional Transport Device?" Zephyranthes piped up. "There is something important I need to give to the people there."

Haro rubbed the "chin" area of his helmet. "I'm not sure that would be such a good idea," he answered. "If the portal is still open, there's a chance one of the insurgents may come through it." He paused to think it over. "What is it that you need to give them?"

The other Captain removed something from the compartment and held it out for the chief and Captain to see. It seemed to be a square of purple glass the size of his palm.

"This is a cybernetic patch created in my universe to protect humans from the Bagu Bagu," Zephyranthes explained. "Do you have them in your dimension?"

"No, actually, we don't," Chief Haro said as he took the patch from his guest. He held it up close to the eye-holes in his helmet and found tiny printed circuit boards embedded inside the glass.

"Then it is a good thing that I asked," Zephyranthes said. "There are a few rogue Bagu Bagu units remaining in the outskirts of my Neotopia. No large swarms, but there are just enough of them to be a threat to organic lifeforms. It is imperative that any human SDG members should wear one of these."

"Fascinating," Haro said, turning the object over with his fingers.

"I could take your patches and hand them out," Captain offered. "That way, you wouldn't have to go there yourself."

"I appreciate your concern, but I will still need to show everyone how to attach them," the other Gundam replied. "If it's any consolation, the possibility of a rebel finding the portal is very low due to being small and difficult to pinpoint. I calculate that the probability of them discovering it is 0.1%."

"I'm not sure. Even if it is a very low chance, I still would not want to risk putting you in harm's way," the chief sighed. He paused to think it over. "On the other hand, the portal is only large enough for one person at a time to fit through, and the area is heavily guarded at this time. Perhaps I could tell the guards that you're coming, and to be on high alert while you're there."

"Thank you," Zephyranthes said with a nod.

Haro held up a finger. "_However_...once you have finished giving these patches to the humans of Lab C, you will be immediately escorted back to base. Understood?"

"Understood."

The chief held out his patch to hand it back to the Gundam. "And when you get a chance, you should give this to Kao Lyn. He might be able to reverse engineer these and create more for us."

Zephyranthes held up his hand. "That one is for you," he said. "Because you are the head officer, your safety is a top priority."

"Well...thank you," the chief said, placing the patch in his pocket. "You'll have to tell me how it works later. For now, you two are dismissed."

"Yes, chief," Captain said, saluting. "Moving out."

"Good luck," Haro said as he returned the salute.

He waited for the two Gundams to leave before taking a quick elevator ride back up to his office. As he sat down at his desk, he took the patch out of his pocket and gave it a closer look. A strange gleam within the glass caught his eye, but it was too hard to see with his helmet on. After closing all of the blinds and locking his door, he removed his mask and brushed his blonde hair out of his face. He then took a magnifying glass out of a drawer and gave the thing a much more thorough inspection. The gleam turned out to be tiny metal needles just within its edges.

_What are those?_ he wondered.

* * *

"According to the schedule, the next Gunperry en route to Lab C is Gunperry Eight," Captain explained to his twin as they rode down an escalator to the bottom floor. "It should be ready in another thirty minutes. However, I first need to report to Kao Lyn's lab to pick up my weapons and shield."

"Would it be acceptable if I came with you?" Zephyranthes asked. "The chief suggested that I should give Kao Lyn one of my patches."

"Sure, that would be fine," Captain replied. "I could also show you around the base, if you-" He stopped himself. "Oh wait, you already know, don't you?"

"Actually, according to my observations, our Blanc Bases are not quite the same," Zephyranthes explained. "It seems like the all of the rooms here are on the opposite side of the building when compared to mine."

"Interesting," Captain said. "It sounds like a mirror image."

The two mechs reached the bottom of the escalator, and headed toward a nearby set of automatic doors. They walked inside and followed a narrow, olive-colored hallway to the now-crowded atrium. SDG employees were rushing to and fro, some talking on their phones, some pushing carts full of supplies, some eating their lunches on the go. Others were sitting on the many chairs and couches as they read books, fiddled with phones or laptops, ate their lunches, or just took naps. The Captains carefully dodged the bustling employees as they crossed the room to another narrow hallway.

They followed it down to the engineering labs, which were just as busy as the atrium. Humans and GMs in hard hats and safety glasses were popping in and out of rooms, carrying tools, papers, or pieces of metal. A GM hauling a wooden pallet with a stack of crates on it slowly rolled past them. Captain led Zephyranthes straight down to the end of the hall to a dark, cavernous, warehouse-like room. The place was dimly lit by spotlights that were either on tripod stands or hanging from fixtures in the ceiling. Metal crates were strewn about the lab, some stacked on top of each other. Metal examining tables on wheels were lined up against one wall.

The middle of the room was walled off by portable dividers with the SDG emblem stamped on them. As the Captains approached, they could see the silhouettes of a mech and portly human performing leg stretches.

"Will that be all, sir?" the machine asked. Captain recognized the voice as belonging to Gunchopper Seven.

"Yes, that should be all for now," Kao Lyn's voice chuckled. "Now remember, if you experience any problems, come to me immediately, okay?"

"Yes, sir," the Gunchopper replied, saluting. He then stepped out from behind the dividers. "I will now inform Guneagle that he is-"

He stopped short when he saw the two Captain Gundams in front of him. He quickly saluted and said, "Good afternoon, Captain! And...Captain?"

"Please, call me Zephyranthes," the pale-eyed Gundam said as he held out his hand. "That should be less confusing."

"Right. Pleased to meet you, Zephyranthes," Gunchopper Seven replied, shaking his hand. "I just finished receiving preventative maintenance. I should be ready to join you when we disembark on our latest mission."

"Good to hear," Captain said.

"I was just about to tell Guneagle that Dr. Kao Lyn is ready to see him," the Gunchopper continued. "I will see you both later."

As Seven left, Captain swore he saw Zephyranthes' optics flash white in response to Guneagle's name. He decided it was probably nothing as the two of them walked around the dividers. On the other side was a single metal examining table surrounded by spotlights. Trays full of wrenches and screwdrivers of various sizes were placed next to it. Kao Lyn's custom assistant ball was tapping away at holographic screens with its pincers. The doctor himself was at a workbench against a wall, his back turned to them as he removed the bit from a drill. He perked up when he heard their heavy footsteps.

"Hoo, hoo! Guneagle, you're actually on time for once!" the aging engineer laughed over his shoulder as he wiped down the drill with a cloth. "Just have seat on the table and I'll be riiiight with you."

"Actually sir, it's me - Captain Gundam," Captain replied. "I've brought someone who wants to see you."

"Oh, hi Captain!" Kao Lyn said. "Gotta admit, you really had me going there! For a second, I actually thought-"

He turned around to find two nearly identical Captains, and almost fell over.

"Oh my, my, my!" he cried, adjusting his taijitu-patterned glasses. "Have I been working too hard, or have I finally gone senile? I'm seeing double!"

Captain tilted his head. "No, sir. This is the person that I rescued last night," he explained. "Allow me to introduce you to Captain Zephyranthes."

"Hello," the twin in question said, waving.

"_Kidding,_ Captain! I'm kidding!" Kao Lyn replied. "Yes, the chief told me all about him! It's a shame I didn't stay late last night - I could have looked him over myself!"

He placed his drill and cloth down on the bench before bounding across the room. He stood in front of Zephyranthes and hunched over, looking the Gundam over from top to bottom. He scratched his chin as the lenses of his glasses shifted around in their frames.

"So how are you feeling?" he asked Zephyranthes as he circled around him, looking him over from various angles. "Did the night crew do a decent job of patching you up? You don't have any worn or missing parts, do you?"

"Last night's maintenance was satisfactory," the other Gundam answered. "I am pleased to report that all of my systems are intact. My pain receptors are not picking up any potentially hidden abnormalities."

"The report said you had no major damage," Kao Lyn continued as he stood up straight. "And Chief Haro told me you've been hiding out for over a _year_! Is that true?"

"Yes," Zephyranthes answered. "I have learned many self-repair techniques during my exile."

"Hoo, that's amazing!" the engineer cried. He hopped into the air and landed on the ball of his right foot. "If I ever get to meet your version of me, I'll have to compliment him on building such a great Gundam!"

He lowered his left foot, and placed it far behind him, shifting himself into a standing squat. He bent his left arm up, his fist at his chest. He extended his right arm and pointed at Captain.

"Speaking of which, how are you feeling, Captain?" he asked. "Everything alright? You've got enough fuel, don'tcha?"

"I am doing just fine, sir," Captain replied. "But you see, we're not here for a tune-up. I am here to retrieve my beam rifle and shield."

Kao Lyn did a spinning leap into the air and landed back in his shallow squat. "Oh! Of course, of course!" He swung his arms in a wide arc over his head and pointed at a long table covered in a white cloth. The assistant ball removed the cloth revealing the rifle and shield underneath.

"All calibrated and ready to go!" the engineer added triumphantly.

"Thank you sir," Captain said, walking over to retrieve his things.

Zephyranthes stepped forward while opening his chest compartment. "And I am here to give you something," he said.

"A present for me?" Kao Lyn asked. "Aw, you shouldn't have!"

The other Gundam fished out another piece of purple glass. "Here you are," he said, holding it out.

"Why, thank you!" the engineer cried as he quickly snatched it up. His lenses spun like pinwheels as he held it up to his face and turned it around in his hands. "What is it, if you don't mind me asking?"

"It is a patch that protects humans from the Bagu Bagu," Zephyranthes explained. "I've been told you do not have these in your dimension."

"Really?! Oh my, how fascinating!" Kao Lyn said, pumping his free fist in the air. "I wish we would've met you sooner - these would've been a big help a year ago!"

"Functional Bagu Bagu still remain in my Neotopia," Zephyranthes continued. "The chief suggested that I give you one so that you may reverse engineer it."

"Oh yes, yes, yes!" Kao Lyn nodded and hopped excitedly again. "After I'm done doing maintenance on the rest of the Gundam Force, I'll get right on it." He held the patch up to a nearby spotlight to get a better look at it. "By any chance, do you know how it works?"

"Unfortunately, I do not have the schematics in my memory banks," Zephyranthes said. "I do know that it emits a signal that jams the Bagu Bagu's visual sensors and prevents them from seeing the wearer. I also know that it attaches to the skin."

"Well, it doesn't look _that_ complicated," Kao Lyn chuckled. "I'm sure I'll figure it out easily enough, don't you worry!" The assistant ball rolled up to him, and he handed the patch to it. "Of course, if you'd like to stay and help, I can tell you when I'm ready."

Captain suddenly appeared next to them. His shield was in one hand, and his rifle with its muzzle carefully pointed upward in the other. "Actually, sir, we can't stay," he said. "We will be going to Lab C. Our Gunperry will be departing in 15.5 minutes."

"Hoo, I see," the engineer said. "Well, I won't keep you then. Good luck, you two!"

"Thank you again, sir."

As the two Gundams turned and walked around the dividers, Kao Lyn waved and called after them, "Oh, and if either one of you need a quick tune-up, let me know, okay?"

"Roger!"

The Captains returned to the hallway where they found a forklift with a stack of crates blocking the intersection. As they waited for the slow-moving vehicle to move out of their path, Zephyranthes suddenly asked, "Do we have enough time to go to the control room?"

Captain looked at him. "I'm not sure. Why do you want to go there?" he asked.

"I would like to give one of my patches to one of your operators, preferably the lead," the other Gundam replied. "Since they're in change of communications, I thought that at least one of them should be protected."

"Hmm..." Captain paused perform a few calculations. "If we take the freight elevator, we can to avoid the crowds and save up to 2.5 minutes. As long as we kept the visit short, we should be on-time."

A moment later, the forklift had finally moved forward enough to allow the Gundams to pass through. They turned the corner and hurried down to the end of the hall where they found the freight elevator in question. After a quick ride up to the top floor, the doors opened into more narrow, pale green corridors. These ones, however, were a lot quieter than the ones below; there didn't seem to be a single human or robot around.

After a short walk, they reached a pair of metal doors with "RESTRICTED AREA" printed on them in large black letters and a spherical camera next to them within a recess in the wall. Captain leaned close to the lens, allowing it to scan his face. The doors slid open a second later, revealing an elliptical room with a domed window for a roof. A desk littered with laptops, holographic projectors, and computer accessories ran along the room's circumference. Seated at this desk was Juli, who was busy typing away at a multitude of holographic screens. One of the larger screens had a tree-like image on it.

Captain and his twin entered the room, and he gently leaned his rifle against the nearest wall. "Good afternoon, Juli," he said.

"Hello, Captain," the head operator responded over her shoulder. She immediately did a double take and turned around in her chair when she realized there were two Captain Gundams in the room. "Oh! Is this the Gundam that was brought here last night?"

"Yes. I'd like to introduce to Captain Zephyranthes," Captain replied, gesturing to his companion.

Zephyranthes stepped forward. "Hello," he said, offering his hand.

"Hello there," Juli said, standing up and returning the handshake. "It's nice to meet you."

Once again, the other Captain reached into his chest compartment and pulled out a patch. "I've come to give you something important," he said.

"Why thank you." Juli accepted the patch and quickly glanced at it. "It's very pretty. Did you make this yourself?"

"Oh no, this is no ordinary trinket," Zephyranthes explained. "This patch will prevent the Bagu Bagu from petrifying you."

"Wow, really?" She looked at it with wide eyes before trying to hand it back to the Gundam. "I'm sorry, but I can't accept it. I'm not on the front lines, so this would be wasted on me."

"But you are the head operator in this dimension as well, correct?" he protested. "Though you may not be in the line of fire, your position is still an important one. Your safety is therefore imperative."

"Well, if you insist," Juli said. She turned around and placed in on the desk next to her holoscreen projector. "I'll put it right here for now. Thank you so much!"

"Would you like me to show you how to put it on?"

Juli sighed. "You'll have to show me later - I'm a bit too busy right now. Last night, someone tried to gain unauthorized access to an SDG satellite as well as the Brain World."

"A satellite _and_ the Brain World?" Captain cried. "Who would be capable of doing something like that?"

Juli shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't know," she answered. "All of the addresses I've managed to recover were all garbled. I've spent all day trying to decrypt them, but haven't had much success. Whoever did this knew how to cover their tracks very well."

"Hmmm..." The first thing that came to Captain's mind was that one of the rebels from Zephyranthes' world managed to follow him into this one, then attempted to gain access to the Brain World. But no, that wasn't right - didn't Zephyranthes say that they _blocked_ Brain World access? And besides, the mirror had been in SDG custody all night last night; if someone else came through the portal, everyone would have known. Unless...

A pop-screen suddenly appeared in Captain's field of vision, snapping him out of his thoughts. They had five minutes until their Gunperry departed for Lab C.

"I would offer to assist you in finding the intruder, but right now Captain Zephyranthes and I must go to Lab C," he told Juli. "Perhaps I can help when we return?"

"That's alright, Captain," she replied with a smile. "Alicia and Nastasha are helping me during their free time. I'll let you know how far we get when you come back."

"Roger," he said, scooping up his rifle. "Good luck!"

"You too!"

The two Gundams left the control room and hurried back to the freight elevator. They got inside and Captain pressed the button for the first floor.

"Do you have a Captain System?" Zephyranthes asked as the doors closed behind them.

"Huh? Er...yes, I do," Captain replied.

"Perhaps you can use your Captain System to find the intruder," Zephyranthes suggested.

"It's possible, but I can't do that," Captain said. "The Captain System is for emergency use only. Even if I was approved to use it, I would have to be hooked up to the Re-Equip Ring first."

"Interesting. It sounds like your system is more complicated than mine," the other Captain said. "However...if your Dark Axis also used Control Horns, how were you able to remove them?"

"Actually, we did so by mechanical means," Captain explained. "Sometimes we were able to remove them by hand. Other times we destroyed them, or they fell off the victim."

"Understood." Zephyranthes rubbed his chin. "It sounds rather inefficient, but I suppose I should not criticize your methods if the result was the same."

The door opened out into the first floor. Captain secretly felt relieved; he did not want to say it, but his twin's questions about the Captain System were making him uncomfortable. The implications that Zephyranthes used his often did too.

They left the elevator and hurried back down the corridor to the main hallway. Fortunately for them, the engineering wing was not far from the launching strips.

"As long as there have been no major accidents in the hallways, we should reach our Gunperry with time to spare," Captain said. "I'm estimate that we will be about 2.9 min-"

He cut himself off and stopped in his tracks as he nearly collided with another mech who was just rounding a corner. The other robot had distinct wings made from metal strips with small rockets attached underneath as well as two sets of V-fins.

"Heeey, Captain!" Guneagle said. "Fancy seein' you here!"

"Oh, hello Guneagle," Captain replied, waving. "Kao Lyn is looking for you, you know. It's time for your preventative maintenance."

Zephyranthes was strangely quiet. Out of the corner of his optic, Captain could see that his twin was glaring at Guneagle for some reason.

"Yeah, I know," Guneagle said with a shrug. "Gunchopper Seven told me a few minutes ago. But hey, no rush. It's not like we're going anywhere right this second." He looked over at the glowering Zephyranthes. "So...is this the new guy? I heard another Gundam showed up yesterday, but I was already recharging when it happened."

"That is correct," Captain nodded. "Allow me to introduce you to Captain Zephyranthes. He came to our dimension last night, and I brought him back to base. Our next mission will be to help him reclaim his Neotopia from a coup."

"Is that so?" the winged Gundam replied. "Well, welcome to this dimension's Blanc Base, Zephyrus! I mean, Zefron. Uh...Zebedee?"

"_Zephyranthes_." While the other Captain's voice remained its usual polite monotone, his optics narrowed and became a shade paler than they already were. Captain found his twin's behavior troubling, but before he could say anything, Guneagle was already holding out his hand.

"Right!" the young Gundam said, ignoring the evil eye that Zephyranthes was giving him. "Put 'er there, pal! I'm sure you've got a Guneagle in your dimension too, but I bet he's not quite as handsome as me!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Zephyranthes grabbed Guneagle's hand, and instead of shaking it, slowly began to squeeze it. His irises were blazing bright white and his optics dimmed to a dark green. He instantly let go when the winged Gundam let out a small shout. Guneagle then jerked his hand away, shaking it.

Captain leaned his rifle and shield against a wall before rushing over to his subordinate's side. "Are you okay, Guneagle?" he asked, looking over the injured hand.

The younger Gundam rubbed his metal fingers as he looked up at Captain. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." He turned to Zephyranthes and said, "That is _some_ kung-fu grip ya got there!"

Meanwhile, Zephyranthes' optics had returned to their normal colors. "Oh, I am terribly sorry," he said. "Did I do any major damage?"

"Nah, I'm okay," Guneagle said. "Doesn't matter anyway, I gotta go get maintenanced. Kao Lyn can tell me if anything's wrong."

"Again, I apologize for behaving so irrationally," Zephyranthes continued. "I believe my targeting systems may have misfired."

Guneagle shrugged. "Hey, don't worry about it. Anyway, I better get going before the old man busts my chops again!"

"Do you need assistance?" Captain asked, noticing that the younger Gundam was still cradling the injured hand.

"No thanks, Captain. I'll be fine," Guneagle replied. "See you two later!" He then turned around and walked away.

"Good luck!" Captain waved as he gathered his armaments. He and his twin then turned the corner and walked down the hallway in the opposite direction.

Zephyranthes checked his internal clock and sighed. "My carelessness has cost us 2.5 minutes," he remarked.

"Not to worry," Captain reassured him. "I can always radio the crew if we are running late."

As luck would have it, they were right on time. The atrium had cleared out as the personnel had finished their lunch breaks and returned to work. The Gundams jogged through it without worrying about bumping into someone. As they ran outside to the landing strips, the crew of Gunperry Eight spotted them and waved them over.

They boarded the vessel and the hatch closed behind them. This particular Gunperry had no seats; instead, it had harnesses along one wall. They strapped themselves in, and the aircraft took off a few minutes afterward. Once they were in flight and reached a safe altitude, Zephyranthes unstrapped himself and walked over to the nearest window.

He spied the terraced, circular districts of downtown Neotopia far below. They had just passed by the twin peaks of Neotopia Tower and its platform parks. Off in the distance were the checkered fields of Neotopia's outskirts which came in nearly every shade of green. Beyond that was the Neotopia Bay and the ocean. If he made his optics zoom in at maximum magnification, he could just barely make out a few ships on the horizon.

"Interesting. At a glance, this Neotopia is almost identical to my own," he said. "I do detect one difference, however - your V-Ball building is south of the Neotopia Tower, mine is north of it."

"Um...yes," Captain nodded before falling silent again. Ever since they boarded the Gunperry, he had been ruminating on incident with Guneagle. That death glare, that attempt to break his fingers...Zephyranthes had something against the younger Gundam, but Captain didn't know what. He was hesitant to ask, but ultimately he decided it was better to investigate than remain ignorant.

"May I ask you something?" he said.

Zephyranthes turned away from the window. "Yes?" he replied.

"When you shook hands with Guneagle, you said your 'targeting systems misfired.' What did you mean by that? Why would your weapons systems target him?"

Zephyranthes closed his optics and shook his head. "I am so embarrassed. I cannot apologize enough for that." he sighed. "You see...my systems could not distinguish your Guneagle from mine."

"Huh?"

"I did not want to say it in front of your comrade, as I thought it could upset him...but my version of Guneagle was a traitor. He assisted the rebels in capturing my Blanc Base."

"Really?" Captain's optics went wide.

"Yes. I have not had a chance to reprogram all of my targeting systems yet, which is why I saw him as an enemy."

"I see. I'm sorry to hear about that."

"Do not worry," Zephyranthes said. "He is not very powerful, and therefore not much of a concern. If we encounter him in our mission, I will make sure that he will be neutralized quickly."

That discomfort began to nag Captain again. "We could always capture him for questioning," he suggested. "If he is an important figure among the rebels, he may have valuable information."

There was a tense pause as Zephyranthes just stared at Captain for a moment. Those pale optics felt as if they were boring through his Soul Drive. Eventually the other Gundam said, "Yes. Perhaps we should do that instead."

He went back to looking out the window. Captain decided not to ask his counterpart any more questions for the duration of the trip.

* * *

Gunperry Eight touched down on the sandy runway at Lab C. As the two Captains emerged from the vessel, they were greeted by a large group of humans and GMs in SDG uniforms. One of the GMs stepped forward and saluted.

"Good afternoon, Captain," the GM said in a feminine voice. "I'm Lieutenant VT1964, head of Lab C security. We're here to escort you and your guest to the Dimensional Transport Device."

"Right." Captain turned to his twin. "Let's go."

The party left the runway and made their way down a narrow road that led to the main site. As they walked, Zephyranthes handed out his anti-Bagu Bagu patches to the human security guards. Off in the distance, the Dimensional Transport Device towered over the cacti and desert shrubs, its multitude of rotors twirling. Beyond it was the shadowy, jagged peaks of the mountains.

"What's the status on the portal to the other Neotopia?" Captain asked the lieutenant.

"Dr. Bell Wood reports that he has determined the coordinates to the other dimension," she replied. "However, he hasn't been able to successfully create a functioning portal yet."

"Has he said why?"

"The only thing he's told us so far is that he isn't even sure what's wrong."

"I understand. Has anything tried to emerge from the other side?"

"Negative, Captain. Nothing's tried to come out of the mirror since we've had it - not human, insect, or otherwise."

"That's good to hear."

"Yes, that is quite a relief," Zephyranthes added.

After a few minutes of walking along the dusty road, the Gundams and their escorts arrived at the Dimensional Transport Device itself. Human and GM guards, all armed with laser rifles, surrounded the perimeter of the giant machine and blocked off its bridges. At the base of the main tower was some sort of object covered in a lead cloth. Large cables snaked out from underneath the cloth, connecting it to the various pillars and towers. Captain realized the thing was actually the mirror when he saw its uncovered wooden feet.

What he did not see, however, were a certain Knight and Musha Gundam. Had Bell Wood not summoned them yet? He found the young genius at a workbench close to the covered mirror. He was typing away at holographic screens generated by a laptop sitting on the bench. Whatever was on those screens must have been bad news, as Captain noticed that he kept glaring at them, sometimes even sneering.

The entourage stopped at the nearest bridge. VT1964 saluted and said, "Well Captain, we made it. I need to head back to the main security office now. Let us know when you need to depart."

"We will," Captain replied. "Thank you again."

"And uh...good luck!" the GM added, gesturing to the ever more frustrated Bell Wood.

With that, the lieutenant turned and left while the guards stationed at the bridge moved out of the Captains' way. They walked to the central platform and carefully approached the irritated physicist.

"Good afternoon, Bell Wood," Captain said quietly, hoping not to startle the human.

"WHA-?!" Bell Wood jumped back anyway, tearing himself away from his screens in the process. He looked up to see the Gundams and breathed a sigh of relief. "Ah, it's just you Captain. Can't sneak up on a guy like that!" He turned back to his laptop for a second before immediately jerking his head away and giving Zephyranthes a confused stare. "Uh, is that the new guy...or did Kao Lyn build another one of you?"

"It's the former," Captain answered. "This is Captain Zephyranthes, a member of the SDG from the other dimension."

"Greetings," Zephyranthes said politely.

"So you're from over there, huh?" Bell Wood pointed at the mirror. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about this portal, would ya? It's been drivin' me crazy all day!"

"Well, I can tell you that in my dimension, the portal is not inside another mirror or any other kind of object," the other Gundam replied. "It is simply hanging in midair."

"Eh, that's better than nothin' I guess," Bell Wood said as he brought up a black screen with lines of code. "I'll plug it in and see if it works."

As the teen physicist began to edit his device's programming, Captain made another brief scan around the area to see if he missed anything earlier. When he still did not detect his friends, he asked, "Were you able to get in contact with Zero and Bakunetsumaru?"

"'Fraid not, Captain. I've been too busy workin' on this all day," Bell Wood replied as he continued to type. "Couldn't stop to summon them, either. The portal's slowly closin' on us."

"It is?"

"Yup. See for yourself." He left his bench and walked over to the covered mirror. He lifted the lead sheet from the side, hopefully out of the way of the radiation. The Gundams could see that the portal's light had dimmed to the brightness of an ordinary table lamp. Its edges were no longer glowing.

Bell Wood lowered the sheet. "It's diameter shrunk about 25% since this morning," he said as he returned to his laptop. "So your friends are gonna hafta wait until I can figure out how to get this thing to work!"

"If I may, did you take the time differential into account?" Zephyranthes piped up.

"_Time_ differential?" The human stopped typing and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, there is a twelve-hour difference between my dimension and yours," the other Gundam explained.

Bell Wood slapped his forehead. "Aw, dangit! I wish somebody woulda told me that sooner!" He rapidly tapped the black screen to make the code scroll faster.

"If, for some reason, the added twelve hours is still not sufficient, you may also try adding 27.3 days," Zephyranthes suggested. "There was a full moon in my dimension, but your calendars inform me that there is a new moon here."

"On it."

Bell Wood went back to typing, grumbling to himself about how he should have just stuck his head through the portal. Captain was about to tell him that would have been an unwise thing to do, when another pop-up reminder suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

"Oh dear," he said, realizing what the reminder was for.

"Is something wrong?" Zephyranthes asked as he stepped away from the workbench.

"It's time to pick Shute up from school," Captain replied, "but I cannot leave you by yourself. I will have to let him know to go home instead."

Zephyranthes held up a hand. "I appreciate your concern, but there is no need for that. I am safe here. You may retrieve your human friend."

"But it would go against orders to abandon you," Captain protested.

The other Gundam shook his head. "You would not be 'abandoning' me because, as I recall, you did not receive a direct order to protect me," he clarified. "That order was given to the security guards here. I believe there are a sufficient number of them to defend me in the event of a rebel attack."

"You are...correct, actually," Captain said. "Chief Haro actually did not give me an order to defend you personally. But...it would still seem wrong if I were to simply leave."

He lowered his head as he calculated the best possible solution. After a few seconds, he looked back up and said, "I have an idea!" He then handed Zephyranthes his gun and shield. "I'm assuming that our armaments will be identical," he added.

The other Gundam quickly scanned the rifle and shield. "Yes, it seems are though all of the specifications are the same," he said. "Are you sure you want to lend them to me?"

"Absolutely," Captain replied. "I know you said that the chances of the rebels coming here are negligible, but I would feel much more at ease if you had a means of defending yourself. Besides, it is best that I do not carry my weapons into the city during relative peacetime."

Zephyranthes strapped the shield to his back and positioned the rifle with its muzzle over his shoulder. "If you find it acceptable, then I shall take them for the time being," he said. "Hopefully I will not have to use them."

Captain radioed Lieutenant VT1964 to let her know where he was going, what he was doing, and to be on alert while he was out. Afterward, he walked over to a spot that was clear of the device's towers and spinning rotors.

"I am now going to pick up Shute from school," he said to his twin. "A round trip will take approximately 20.2 minutes. Don't hesitate to message me if there are any new developments."

"Understood." Zephyranthes saluted with his free hand.

With that, Captain activated his rockets. He floated straight up until he had enough clearance over the device, and then flew off in the direction of the city. Zephyranthes waited until he was out of sight before approaching Bell Wood, who was still hard at work altering the code.

"Excuse me, doctor," he said quietly, trying not to startle the young genius.

"Huh?" Bell Wood briefly glanced up from his screens to find the pale-eyed Gundam staring at him. "Oh hey, Other Captain. What's up? You thought of something else I could plug in?"

"Unfortunately, I do not have any new information about my home dimension," he answered. "Instead, I have something to give you."

He pulled another patch from his chest and handed it to Bell Wood. The teen flipped it over in his hands a few times before pulling his goggles down over his eyes.

"Thanks, but...what is it?" he asked as he adjusted an eyepiece. "It looks like the same color as the mirror's edges. You think if I hook this up to the device, we'll finally get a portal goin'?"

"I am afraid it is unrelated to the creation of dimensional portals," Zephyranthes said. "It is technology from my world - an anti-Bagu Bagu patch."

Bell Wood raised his goggles. "Say what?"

"Bagu Bagu are still functional around the outskirts of my Neotopia," the Gundam continued. "If the back end of the portal has not changed locations, there is a 5% chance they may pass through it. Because this is a major safety concern, I came here to-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Time out!" Bell Wood held up his hands. "These things sound cool and all, but I really gotta get my butt movin'!" He placed the patch down on the table next to his laptop. "How about this - you can tell me all about them _after_ I get this thing workin'?"

"Understood," Zephyranthes replied. "In the meantime, I will give the patches to the other human personnel. Let me know when you are ready, and I will show you how to attach them."

"Got it."

The Gundam wandered off, and Bell Wood went back to his screens. He carefully searched through the lines of code, looking for the right places to insert the twelve-hour difference. The patch twitched slightly on the table, but he was too busy typing to notice.

He also didn't notice when it suddenly stood up on tiny needle-like legs.

He still didn't notice when it slowly crawled across the table toward him...


	6. Chapter 6

**Spectrophobia  
Chapter 6**

"GET OFF ME!"

Chief Haro was in the floor of his office, trying to grab the anti-Bagu Bagu patch that had jumped off of his desk and latched onto his mask. It was incredibly fast, however, and it kept slipping between his fingers. It was now skittering down his helmet toward his neck.

Getting an idea, the chief pulled his collar down and grabbed at an empty spot right in the patch's path. Sure enough, the thing crawled right into his hand, and he pulled it off of him just as he felt its tiny needle-like legs poking his bare flesh.

He carefully got to his feet as he held the offending patch at arm's length, and then leaned against the nearest filing cabinet while catching his breath. Just a minute ago, he had been formulating scouting missions into the new dimension when a sudden rustling noise had distracted him. He had looked up to see something moving underneath a pile of papers. When he had moved those papers thinking that another Elmouse had gotten into his office, he found the patch instead - which then lunged at him. Even now, its needles were wildly wiggling and it was trying to squirm out of his hand.

What was _wrong_ with this thing? Was it supposed to do that? Did it have some sort of auto-attach feature? Whatever it was doing, Haro had _a lot_ of questions for Captain Zephyranthes once he got back - particularly if all technology from his dimension was designed to scare the living daylights out of its users.

He looked around the office for something to put it in. There was a heavy glass pitcher of water with a metal lid on his desk. If he emptied it out, maybe he could stick the patch inside it. He removed the lid, poured the pitcher's contents into a potted plant by the door, and set the pitcher back on his desk. He then picked up the lid with his free hand, and tried to throw the patch into the jar with the other.

Unfortunately, as soon as Haro loosened his grip, the patch grabbed onto his glove. Before he could even react, it had already crawled up the back of his hand and down his sleeve. All of its needles dug into his forearm at once, causing him to let out a yelp.

Cursing under his breath, the chief immediately dropped the lid, reached up his sleeve, and tried to pry the patch off his forearm. Not only did it refuse to budge, but a shooting pain would cause him to lose his grip.

Suddenly, he began to feel lightheaded. Lightheadedness quickly became dizziness. As he steadied himself against a wall, he felt a great weariness wash over him. His knees buckled, and he slowly slid down the wall to the floor. His helmet felt unbearably heavy, but he was too tired to take it off. Meanwhile, the forearm that the patch had latched onto had gone completely numb.

He had no idea why the patch was sedating him, but one thing was for certain - it needed to come off _now._ The exhausted Chief Haro gritted his teeth and gathered all of his remaining energy to reach back up his sleeve again. Just as he got his fingers around it, however, pressure suddenly began to build up in his head.

_Do not resist._

"Huh...?" Haro sluggishly lifted his head and looked around the room with bleary eyes. No one was there.

_Do not resist. You are only harming yourself._

"...Whoizit?" the chief slurred. The disembodied voice was soft and droning...and very familiar sounding.

_You are now being connected to the network,_ it explained. _The less resistance given, the less painful the procedure will be._

Haro's ears began to ring, and the pressure in his head built up into a splitting headache. With his fingers still firmly around the patch, he took a deep breath and pulled as hard as his tired body could muster. As luck would have it, the patch became dislodged. His tinnitus subsided, and his migraine became a dull ache. Strength and energy returned to his body, allowing him to fully pull it out of his arm and slam it against the floor. Some of the legs became bent, but the glass did not shatter. It limped around on the carpet, trying to make its way back to him. The chief put it out of its misery by standing up and stomping on it several times. There was a snapping noise as the rest of it needles broke, and it stopped moving altogether. Just to be on the safe side, Haro grabbed the pitcher, turned it upside-down, and put it over the malevolent piece of technology.

He leaned against the edge of his desk for support as he removed his spherical helmet with one hand. He took a deep breath of fresh air as he placed it next to him, its peaked cap sliding off to the side. He then pulled back his sleeve to get a good look at the area where the patch had latched itself onto. There was a small square of tiny holes in his reddened forearm, all of which oozed a small trickle of blood that stained his jacket and white glove. Feeling was coming back to that arm, and it was already starting to burn. There were no bandages in his office, so Haro had to make do with a bunch of napkins.

As he covered the wound and placed pressure on it, he looked down at the patch under the pitcher. Thankfully, it remained still. Obviously, that thing was built for reasons other than protecting organic creatures from Bagu Bagu stings. Captain Zephryranthes would have to be questioned as soon as he got back from Lab C.

Chief Haro froze as something crossed his mind. Zephryranthes was going to pass those out to other human SDG members...

He grabbed his helmet, struggling to get it back on with a sore, partially-numb arm. He was interrupted by a sudden ringing noise behind him. He turned around to find a holographic phone spinning in place above his laptop, with a green accept and a red decline icon underneath. Haro popped the helmet into place and pressed accept. The phone was then replaced by a video screen. In the center of the screen was the face of a square-jawed, middle aged man who was sweating profusely. It was the head officer of Blanc Base security, Lieutenant Korbel. Behind him, human and GM security guards were rushing back and forth. The segmented wall behind them implied that they were in a hallway.

"Hello, Chief?" Korbel said blandly, trying to keep up a facade of calmness. "We have a situation here at the control room."

"What seems to be the trouble?" Haro asked. Whatever was happening, he had a feeling he already knew what the cause was.

"Head communications operator Juli stole a plasma rifle from the labs downstairs," the lieutenant explained. "She opened fire at a few officers who tried to detain her, but there were no injuries. She's currently locked herself in the control room, and she's erased everyone else's facial recognition data for the door."

The chief steeled himself as he tried not to shudder. "I'm on my way," he told Korbel.

He pressed the End Call icon, and discarded the bloody napkins. He placed his cap back on his helmet and ran out the door, trying not to think about what that patch would have made _him_ do had it been successful.

He made it past the elevators when he saw three people running toward him while waving. They were Juli's subordinates, Alicia, Nastashia, and Tyrone. The chief skidded to a stop as he let them catch up.

"Chief, Chief!" Tyrone shouted. "Have you heard the-" He stopped himself when he noticed the red spots on Haro's sleeve and glove. "Sir, are you okay?!" he asked, pointing at the stains.

"I'm fine. It was just a flesh wound," Haro said as he put his hands behind his back. "And yes, Lieutenant Korbel told me about what happened to Juli. Now I have a question for all of you: did any of you make contact with Juli before she locked herself in the control room?"

Nastasha immediately raised her hand. "Ooh, yes!" she answered. "I just got off of lunch break, and I was walking down the hall. I saw her carrying the gun into the room!"

"That's great," the chief replied. "Now...do you remember seeing any purple objects on her?"

Nastasha's eyes shifted as she tried to remember. "I think...I saw something on her forehead," she said, "but I was too far away to tell what color it was."

"That's good enough," Haro nodded. "All of you get to a safe place. I'm going to see if I can't talk some sense into her."

The operators replied with a "Yes, sir." Alicia added "Be careful, chief!" as they headed for the elevator. Meanwhile, Haro ran down the hall toward the control room.

After rounding a few corners, he found a hallway full of security guards, both GM and human. They had the control room surrounded. Assistant balls holding up beam shields were clustered in front of the crowd. Another ball had a plasma torch and had burned a long vertical furrow halfway down the doors. A few of the guards spotted the chief and moved out of his way. One of them alerted Korbel, who pushed through the crowd to meet him. Haro made sure to put his hands behind his back again to avoid any unnecessary questions about his injury.

"Chief?" he said, saluting.

"What's the status?" Haro asked him.

"Juli is unresponsive to all of our communications so far," he replied. "We have tried to use the override codes the lock, but somehow, all of our attempts failed. We think she may have disabled them as well. She's closed the shutter over the window, so we can't approach her from the outside. We're currently attempting to open the doors manually."

"Thanks, lieutenant," Haro nodded. "Meanwhile, I have reason to believe that Juli's disturbing behavior may be the result of a mind control device."

"Mind control?" Korbel's eyes went wide. "How?"

"I'll explain everything later. Let's just say I've found one of these devices myself." He walked around the lieutenant and into the crowd. "I'm going in."

"Be careful, chief!" Korbel called after him. "She still has that rifle!"

"I've been shot at by worse weapons," he said, mostly to himself.

The guards parted out of his way as he strode toward the control room. The shield-wielding assistant balls wheeled away to one side to let him through, immediately returning to their posts after he walked by. The torch-using ball had just finished carving its trench in the door all the way down to the floor.

"Stand back!" Chief Haro shouted to everyone as he held out his uninjured arm.

The guards obliged him with a step back; even the shield balls scooted a few inches backward. The torch ball gathered up its things and zipped away from the entrance.

The chief stepped up to the doors and prodded the burned trough with his fingers to see if it was still hot and if it was deep enough. When he found that it was not too warm nor too shallow, he shoved his hands inside and began to push the doors open. The wounded arm felt like it was on fire, but he did his best to ignore the pain.

There was a great groaning of metal as the doors slowly began to part, bending and crinkling under Haro's hands. With a roar and a superhuman shove, he managed to pry them completely open.

He immediately jumped to his left as a white-hot beam shot out from inside of the control room. It missed his helmet by inches and burned a hole in the wall behind him. He looked into the darkened room to see Juli aiming that stolen plasma rifle at him. She was blankly staring in his general direction with glazed-over eyes. Behind her was the tree-like map of the Brain World.

On her forehead was a purple, glassy square.

"Your presence is not welcome," she said in a monotone voice. "Please leave."

"Juli, it's me...Chief Haro," he said as he sidestepped into the room. "You remember me, right?"

The operator kept the gun trained on him. "You must leave," she droned.

"Juli, I know that's not you talking," Haro replied. "It's that patch on your forehead. It's making you do this." He took a cautious step forward. "Just let me remove it, and-"

She fired a shot at his foot, forcing him to jump backward.

"This is your final warning," Juli said impassively. "Leave now or you will be terminated."

"Sorry, but I can't do that!"

With that, Haro ducked down and tackled Juli's midsection before she had time to adjust her aim. A beam of plasma sailed over him and shattered a window. He knocked her flat on her back, then immediately sat up and wrenched the rifle out of her grip. Just as he tossed the weapon aside, Juli suddenly sat up and tried to get her hands around his neck. Fortunately, he was able to grab her wrists just inches away from his windpipe. Normally he would easily shove his opponents' hands away, but Juli's arms refused to budge. And thanks to his previous injury, his grip was beginning to fail. Where was she getting all this strength?!

He didn't have to worry for long, however, as Korbel suddenly came up behind her and locked her in a bear hug. He pulled her away from the chief as more security guards poured into the room. One GM guard confiscated the plasma rifle. Another GM got down on the floor and wrapped his arms around Juli's ankles.

"We've got her, chief!" Korbel shouted. "Now go ahead and get whatever's controlling her!"

But before Haro could even make a move, Juli used her newfound strength to reach up and hurl the lieutenant over her head. He crashed into the chief, knocking them both into a nearby control panel. Haro was largely unfazed and easily got back to his feet. Korbel, on the other hand, had hit his head against the console and was now lying in the floor, motionless.

As the chief checked on Korbel, Juli slipped one of her legs out of the GM guard's grasp. She kicked him straight into a group of his teammates, sending them crashing to the floor like bowling pins. A human guard that managed to avoid getting toppled lunged forward and tried to tackle the brainwashed operator. However, Juli reached out and caught the oncoming assailant, wrapping her arms around her neck in a choke hold. She held her hostage in front of her like a shield.

"Leave now, or I will terminate her," Juli droned to everyone in the room.

"Don't do this, Juli!" Chief Haro said, reaching out to her.

Juli responded by tightening her arms around the guard's neck. Meanwhile, the rest of the guards quickly helped their injured comrades out of the room and slowly backed away from the entrance.

"Don't worry about me!" the captured guard called after them. "Just take her out like I know you can!"

As if on cue, a small object whizzed through the doorway and embedded itself in Juli's shoulder. A familiar voice in the hallway cried, "Woo _hoo!_ Got 'er!"

Instantly, the operator's glassy eyes rolled up in her head. Her arms slipped off the guard's neck and she crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Haro rushed to her side and found that the object she had been struck by was in fact a tranquilizer dart.

He turned to the guard who was also looking Juli over. "Go check on the lieutenant and make sure he's alright," he ordered.

As she left to take care of the unconscious Korbel, a new group of guards rushed into the room. They surrounded the two forms in the floor.

"I need two stretchers in here," Haro said to them. "Take Lieutenant Korbel and Juli down to medbay as soon as possible."

After a few "Yes sirs" and "Rogers," a handful of the guards ran off to go get the stretchers. Haro turned his attention back to Juli and most importantly, the purple patch in the center of her forehead. He grabbed onto it with both hands and slowly pulled it out of her skin. Almost immediately, its needle legs began twitching wildly, and he could feel it squirming in his grasp, wanting to find a new host. A metal box suddenly appeared at his side. Kao Lyn's assistant ball had rolled into the room and was holding it up in its pincers. Haro quickly tossed the patch into the tin, and the ball closed the lid.

"Was...that the thing controlling Juli?" a voice behind them croaked.

Haro turned around to see Korbel had regained consciousness. The female guard was helping him stand up.

"Yes," the chief nodded. "I'll go into detail later. For now, we need to get you both into the medbay."

"Good idea chief," the lieutenant replied with a shaky smile. "I could use something for this headache."

The guards returned with the stretchers. They carefully lifted Juli into one and eased Korbel into the other. They then cleared out of the control room with Haro bringing up the rear. Out in the hallway, the chief found Kao Lyn and his assistant ball waiting for him. Kao Lyn was carrying the tranquilizer gun in one hand.

"Can you believe it? I finally got to use this thing!" he said, gesturing to the gun. "A shame I had to use it on one of our guys."

"You arrived right in the nick of time," Haro replied. "Juli was being mind controlled by one of those anti-Bagu Bagu patches that Captain Zephyranthes was handing out!"

"Oh, is _that_ what they do?" the engineer asked.

Haro rolled down his stained sleeve, exposing the square of puncture marks on his forearm. "Yes. Mine managed to latch onto me. I heard a voice telling me I was being connected up to some sort of network. I managed to get it off before it could fully gain control, thankfully."

The lenses in Kao Lyn's glasses rotated. "I _knew_ it had to be something sinister!" he said. "I got lucky - mine never even touched me. It chased me around the lab, but my esteemed colleague here managed to smash it with a hammer!"

The ponytailed assistant ball took a bow.

"Of course, the important question is, what was the patch forcing Juli to do?" the chief mused. "What was so important that it made Juli respond with lethal force?"

"Let's go find out, shall we?" Kao Lyn said as he bounded over to the control room. He squeezed through the bent doors with Haro and the ball following close behind.

Kao Lyn walked up to the console projecting the Brain World map and started poking away at the holographic screen. The map disappeared and was replaced by a white screen displaying lines of code.

"She had been investigating the attacks on the Brain World before this incident happened," Chief Haro explained. "I'm not sure how much she was able to finish."

The engineer was slowly scrolling through the codes, his lenses twitching. "Hoo, this doesn't sound good," he said. "Looks like she stopped and tried to give someone access!"

"She did?" Haro asked. "Can you tell who it is?"

"Let's see..." Kao Lyn continued scrolling for a few moments, then stopped to squint at the screen. "Well that's odd...it looks like she was giving the Captain System clearance."

"But...why would she do that?" The chief raised an eyebrow underneath his helmet. "The Captain System hasn't been approved for use since a year ago. And Captain doesn't currently have access to his Re-Equip Ring."

"I know!" Kao Lyn replied. "I don't get it either, but this is definitely the Captain System I'm seeing here!" He pointed at a large block of code on the screen, which Haro assumed was part of the system in question. "I'd know it anyw-"

Something on the screen made Kao Lyn stop and lean forward for a closer look. "Wait, no...that's not right..."

The "ears" on the chief's helmet flapped open and shut. "What's wrong?"

"Wait just a sec..." Kao Lyn dropped down a few more lines, reading the codes closely while underlining them with a finger. He typed in a few search queries, all of which failed.

"Oh, my!" he said. "This isn't the Captain System! At least, it's not the one _I_ created!"

"What do you mean by that?" Haro asked.

"I know Captain's programming inside and out," Kao Lyn replied, "and there's a lot of codes in here that I've never seen before! If this is a Captain System, it doesn't belong to Captain Gundam!"

"At least, it doesn't belong to _our_ Captain Gundam," the chief said in a low, grave voice that was almost a growl. "If you'll excuse me..."

He turned and walked back out into the hallway. Kao Lyn ran after him shouting, "Wait, chief! Where are you going?"

"I need to get in contact with Captain and Lab C immediately," Haro explained. "Captain Zephyranthes must be brought into custody at once!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Spectrophobia  
Chapter 7**

Upon re-entering the city's airspace, Captain came to a stop just above the wide building that was Neotopia Elementary School. He scanned the surrounding playground and parking lot for Shute. He wasn't easy to miss; he was near a baseball diamond jumping around and waving. The Gundam slowly lowered himself down to the ground, landing near his human friend. Other children cheered as he touched down and took video of him with their phones.

"Boy, you really know how to make an entrance, Captain!" the boy laughed.

"Really?" Captain asked. "I thought my landing was average."

Shute chuckled some more. "I'll explain later," he said. "Anyway, I hope you don't mind me hitchin' a ride. I couldn't take my jet pack to school."

"It's no problem, Shute," Captain replied. "I'll fly at a reduced speed to make the trip safer for you. Theoretically, the best way to travel would be by Gunperry, but there is not enough space for one to land here."

"It's not like it's extremely far away, right?" Shute shrugged as he walked toward the sidewalk. "So where's Zero and Bakunetsumaru? Aren't they here yet?"

Captain followed after the boy. "No, not yet," he said, shaking his head. "Bell Wood is still working on trying to make a functional portal to Captain Zephyranthes' dimension."

"Uh, speaking of which," Shute said, his cheerful demeanor becoming more serious, "is that Captain Zephyr guy at Lab C, too?"

"Yes, he is," Captain replied. "He's currently in the custody of the security officers stationed there."

Shute must not have liked his answer, because he immediately frowned and broke eye contact. "He is, huh...?" he mumbled so quietly, it sounded as if he was talking to himself.

"Is something wrong?" the Gundam asked.

"Uh...maybe?" Shute said, turning back to him. "Look, before we take off, could we go someplace where we can talk in private?"

He gestured behind him. A small group of his fellow students were following them, trying to take more pictures of Captain.

The Gundam scanned the area, looking for someplace secluded. After a few moments, he turned to Shute and said, "I've got an idea. Jump on my back."

He turned around and Shute climbed on, being careful not to get his legs too near the jet boosters. Captain then lifted off, flew a few blocks down, and landed on the roof of an office building.

"Wow! Not quite what I had in mind, but it'll do!" the boy remarked, looking around.

"So what did you want to tell me, Shute?" Captain asked.

"Well...," Shute's eyes darted back and forth. "I don't know if it's just me, or what, but...does that other Captain seem a little...I don't know...weird?"

"Weird?"

"Yeah! I...don't know how to describe it," the boy rubbed the back of his head. "But something about him seems...off." He paused to think of an example. The optics? They were creepy alright, but they didn't say anything about his character. His oddly tense behavior when Shute asked about the rebels? That could have been due to stress. The fact that he walked out of a mirror, and therefore could be an evil twin from an opposite universe? Okay, now he was getting his ideas from _Space Highway._

Unable to think of anything that wouldn't make him sound paranoid, Shute instead decided to ask, "Has anything strange happened at the base while he was there?"

"Well, there _was_ an incident with Guneagle before we arrived at Lab C," Captain said.

Shute's eyes widened. "Really? What happened?"

"Captain Zephyranthes suddenly became aggressive when meeting Guneagle, and nearly crushed his fingers," the Gundam explained. "Zephyranthes immediately apologized for his behavior afterward, and explained that it was an error with his targeting systems."

"Okay, yeah! That sounds pretty awkward!" the boy nodded. "Anything else?"

"No, that was the only incident," Captain said. He paused for a moment, then added, "He did heavily imply that he uses his Captain System quite often, especially when Control Horns are involved. It's not something I would do, but I suppose it is not strange in his dimension."

"Yeah, I suppose. Maybe I've just been watching too many cartoons," Shute sighed. "Anyway, we should probably get goin'. I'm sure everybody's wondering where we are."

"Roger!" Captain turned himself around. "I am ready when you are."

Shute climbed on the Gundam's back again, and they gently lifted off the roof. Captain flew out of the city at a slower, steadier pace so that his passenger would not slip off.

As they flew over farmland and approached the edge of the desert, Captain suddenly received an alert from the Blanc Base. It was from Chief Haro himself, and it was marked as urgent. Concerned, the Gundam quickly answered it.

"Cap...undam, thi...ee...ro," the message skipped around and sputtered. "Can you...ear me? We...you to...det..."

The audio degenerated into static. Captain adjusted his position as carefully as he could to find the signal, but ultimately lost it. It looked as if he would have to wait until he reached Lab C to get in contact with the chief.

This worried him; why was the message urgent? Had there been an accident at the base? Did rebels from Zephyranthes' universe actually show up? Whatever it was, he hoped it could wait for a few more minutes; speeding up would be dangerous while still carrying Shute.

Grass gave way to sand and the spires of the Dimensional Transport Device came into view. As he approached the outdoor lab, Captain slowed down and lowered his altitude. He landed next to the closest bridge.

"Lieutenant VT1965 is the head officer on duty here," he said as Shute jumped off his back. "If you find her out here, let her know that I have arrived as well. I will catch up with you later."

"Huh? Where ya goin', Captain?" the boy asked.

"While we were mid-flight, I received an important transmission directly from the chief," the Gundam answered. "However, I couldn't answer it because we were out of range. I must go over to security headquarters and get in contact with the base first. I will join you after that."

"Wow, okay!" Shute replied, blinking. "I hope it's not an emergency!"

"I hope it isn't, either," Captain said gravely.

He lifted off again and flew over the sand-covered road to the security offices. Meanwhile, Shute crossed his arms behind his head as he sauntered across the bridge.

_I wonder how Bell Wood's doing?_ he thought. _I hope he's almost done so I can see Zero and Bakunetsumaru again. I haven't seen them since-_

Shute came to a dead stop when he reached the main platform and slowly put his arms down. Something was dreadfully wrong here. For one thing, all of the guards were human. He didn't see a GM nor an assistant ball anywhere. During the previous year, the SDG made sure to station both mechanical and organic guards as often as possible. This was a safety precaution due to having so many enemies that could either hijack robots or petrify humans. So why the sudden non-compliance here?

And why were the human guards standing so perfectly still? Why were they all staring blankly into space? They almost looked like zombies...

"Welcome!" a monotone voice suddenly said.

Shute jumped a little and whipped around to find Zephyranthes walking toward him. He stifled a shiver. He told himself to stop being so unfair to the Gundam, but he couldn't help it; those dead blue optics were so creepy! The fact that he was carrying a beam rifle and shield didn't help anything.

"Your name is Shute, correct?" the other Captain asked.

"Uh...uh, yeah! That's right," the boy stammered. "So, uh...how have you been?"

"I am doing well, thank you," Zephyranthes replied. "I also am pleased to report that Dr. Bell Wood is almost finished creating a dimensional portal to my dimension."

He gestured to the young engineer who was typing away at the myriad of holographic screens. He was strangely quiet and had the same glazed-over stare that the guards did.

"That's great, that's great," Shute nodded awkwardly. "Hey, umm...have you seen the head of security around here?"

"I believe she is currently in her office in the security building," the Gundam answered. "I should ask the same about my counterpart."

"Oh, you mean Captain?" Shute rubbed the back of his head. "Well, right now he's..."

He stopped himself when he glanced at the human-only guards out of the corner of his eye. They barely seemed to be breathing. Bell Wood wasn't even looking at what he was typing. The whole thing stunk to high heaven.

"...He's calling my mom to tell her we made it here safely," he finished.

"Understood," Zephyranthes said. "In the meantime, I have something to give you."

"You do...?"

Shute watched the Gundam with suspicion as he leaned his shield up against a short column and reached into his chest compartment. He handed the boy the piece of purple glass.

"It is an anti-Bagu Bagu patch," he said. "Technology exclusive to my dimension, it seems."

Shute warily held the purple square at arm's length between two fingers. He spotted something metal inside it, but wasn't too keen on bringing it close to his face for a better look.

"So I'm guessing this thing wards off Bagu Bagu, huh?" he asked. "But y'know, I think we deactivated all of the Bagu Bagu a long time ago."

"In my dimension, however, they are still active," Zephyranthes explained. "Therefore, it is important that any human visiting my dimension or in the vicinity of its portal should wear one."

He walked over to the nearest guard. She did not respond at all as Zephyranthes held up his free hand for her. Shute spotted a purple square attached to her sleeve.

"I have given it to all the humans who are currently working here," the Gundam continued. "Would you like me to show you how to put it on?"

"Uhh...maybe later," Shute said as sweat rolled down his forehead.

"Understood," Zephyranthes said, letting go of the guard's arm. "Let me know when you are ready and I will demonstrate. In the meantime, I will be assisting Dr. Bell Wood with the Dimensional Transport Device."

He picked the shield back up and headed over to where the teen physicist was still calmly typing. Shute waited until he was far away enough to let out a big sigh of relief. He immediately felt guilty afterwards. Sure, Zephyranthes might be a little eerie, but he didn't seem to be such a bad guy. He _did_ seem like he was sincerely concerned for everyone's safety. Shute wondered if it really was just paranoia on his part.

But on the other hand, why was everybody so zombie-like? What happened to all the robots?

And why was his patch shaking? Did it have some sort of vibrate feature?

..._Were those needles?!_

* * *

Lab C's security headquarters was a squat, one-story building a few hundred meters away from the outer perimeter of the Dimensional Transport Device. It was also locked up tight and cordoned off with yellow tape. Even the windows had all their blinds drawn. Captain knocked on the front door, but there was no answer. Fortunately, he didn't have to go in; he found that if he stood with his back to the wall, he could still get a WiFi signal.

"This is Captain Gundam reporting in," he said over his radio. "Do you read me, Blanc Base? Over."

"We hear you loud and clear, Captain," Chief Haro's voice answered. "We're relieved to hear back from you. We contacted both you and Lab C, but didn't receive a response from either one of you."

"My apologies, sir," the Gundam replied. "You see, when you called, we-"

"No time for that now, Captain," the chief interrupted him. "We need you to bring Captain Zephyranthes back to base immediately."

"Yes, sir, right away," he said. He thought that the chief had changed his mind about allowing Zephyranthes to stay at the lab.

"I'd advise you to take extreme caution," Haro added. "Those anti-Bagu Bagu patches that he was handing out earlier are actually mind control devices."

It took Captain a few extra milliseconds to process that last sentence. "...Mind control, sir?"

"Yes. One of them latched onto me, but I was able to remove it before it connected me to its network," the chief explained. "Another took control of Juli and was forcing her to give Brain World access to an unauthorized third party. She reacted violently when we tried to stop her. If Captain Zephyranthes has given his patches to any of the guards over there, they may do the same to you."

Captain froze. This couldn't be right...

"Perhaps he doesn't know about their harmful effects?" he suggested.

"Perhaps. While I do not want to judge him prematurely, I have to admit that the evidence it stacked against him," the chief continued. "That third party was another Captain System, one slightly different from yours."

Captain took several more painful milliseconds to process the implications. There had to be some sort of mistake! Zephyranthes was a Captain Gundam - another version of himself! How could another Captain Gundam do something like that?

But then again, why should he be so surprised? It was as Shute said - Zephyranthes' behavior had a bit "off," and Captain had not wanted to acknowledge it.

And besides, there _had_ been a Captain Gundam who had done unspeakably evil things before, now hadn't there? He may have been a different model, but...

A creaking noise snapped Captain out of his painful memories. The front door had slowly swung open, but no one was coming out.

"Captain? Is everything alright?" Chief Haro's voice suddenly asked.

"One moment, chief," Captain replied.

He rushed over to the door and looked inside. His CPU nearly crashed when saw what was within.

The small lobby was crammed with dozens of offline GM guards and assistant balls. All of them were battered and dented with the occasional spark flying out of a few of them.

Suddenly, something grabbed Captain by the ankle. He jumped backward and looked down to find Lieutenant VT1965 lying in the floor, her arm outstretched. She had a large, deep dent in the side of her head and was staring up at him imploringly.

"Ca-ca-cap...tain...?" Her voice crackled with static. "Are you...th-the-the real...Captain...?"

Captain knelt down and held her hand. "Yes, lieutenant, it's me. I'm not Zephyranthes," he answered. "Please don't try to talk. I'll call for help immediately!"

"Yes...I can see...i-i-it in your eyes," the lieutenant continued. "Y-you're the...re-re-real Captain! You have...have to...watch out-out-out for-"

Lieutenant VT1965's optics went dim and her arm went limp as she suddenly shut down. Captain gently put her hand down and slowly closed the door behind him.

"Captain! What's going on over there?!" Chief Haro's voice demanded over the radio.

Instantly, the Gundam was brought back to reality. "We've got multiple officers down, chief!" he shouted. "Requesting backup immediately!"

"Copy that," the chief replied. "We've already launched-"

But Captain was no longer listening. He ignited his jet boosters and flew as fast as he could back to the Dimensional Transport Device. _Shute!_ He had left Shute there alone! He hoped beyond hope that the boy didn't receive one of those patches.

Upon reaching the airspace above the main platform, Captain circled around and scanned the area for signs of his friend. The scan showed what remained of the guards, and that there were only humans left. He found Bell Wood still at his computer, and Zephyranthes standing next to him. Captain felt the urge to fly down there and shake the truth out of his twin, but he managed to stifle it.

His sensors finally picked up a small human figure on the main platform standing off by themselves. They were on the side opposite of Bell Wood, and was hidden under several tall spires. That had to be Shute; there wasn't anyone else at Lab C that fit those parameters.

The Gundam dived down and landed hard on the platform, denting the floor. Normally, Bell Wood would be ranting and raving at him for damaging his equipment, but he remained strangely silent. Zephyranthes welcomed him back, but Captain ignored him as he hurried over to where his sensors picked up the lone figure.

Sure enough, the figure turned out to be Shute. He was standing perfectly still, his back turned to everyone. Captain ran up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Shute, are you okay?!" he cried.

The boy gave no response, not even after the Gundam gave him a gentle shake. His eyes were glazed over and staring into the distance. Captain looked him over and found the patch embedded in his wrist.

"Is something wrong?" a monotone voice suddenly asked.

Captain spun around to find Zephyranthes standing a few feet behind him. His pale optics were wide, and he was tilting his head. He was still clutching Captain's beam rifle and shield.

"What did you do to Shute?!" Captain barked at him, glaring.

"I only gave him an anti-Bagu Bagu patch," Zephyranthes replied innocently. "You are upset. What is the matter?"

"I know your patches have a mind control function," Captain retorted. "And I found the robot guards. I saw what you did to them!"

Zephyranthes' optics flashed white. "I do not understand," his voice sighed as if trying to imitate sadness. "Are you accusing me of something?"

"Please don't try to play innocent!" Captain snapped. "Chief Haro told me what one of your patches did to Juli. She was forced to give Brain World access to a Captain System - one that was different from mine!"

Zephyranthes' wide optics narrowed into a glare. "That chief of yours...," he said with a forceful edge in his voice. "He is just as much of a nuisance as mine was."

Seeing the change in attitude, Captain stepped defensively in front of Shute. He gripped his beam saber in case things got ugly.

"Captain Zephyranthes - you are hereby under arrest," he said. "You are to drop your weapons, deactivate all of your patches, and surrender immediately!"

Loud clicks were heard in every direction. The Gundam looked around to find all of the guards pointing their beam rifles at him. Zephyranthes was also had his gun – Captain's gun that is, which had been so trustingly loaned - trained on him.

"I will do no such thing," the other Gundam droned.


	8. Chapter 8

**Spectrophobia  
Chapter 8**

Captain huddled close to Shute while scanning the area, trying to find a way out of this situation. He was rapidly running out of options, as the brainwashed guards slowly closed in on them, their weapons pointed at their heads.

"You'll never get away with this, Zephyranthes!" Captain barked. "Chief Haro has already sent for backup!"

"Your attempt at intimidating me will not work," Zephyranthes said blandly. "I have ways of dealing with your friends. Now then..."

He put Captain's shield down and pointed at Shute. The boy suddenly spun around and with a superhumanly powerful tug, pulled Captain's beam saber right out of his fingers. He then threw it to Zephyranthes, who caught it with free hand.

"Is this the real reason why your humans are rebelling against you?" Captain growled.

"Their motives are irrelevant," his twin answered as he slipped the pilfered saber onto an empty slot on his back. "What is relevant is this..."

He glanced at Bell Wood, who tapped an icon on one of his holographic screens. The Dimensional Transport Device's rotors began to rotate faster and faster. A purple glow appeared high above the main platform. A black disc appeared in the center of the light and expanded outward until Captain could clearly see a nighttime sky complete with stars and a full moon.

"As you can see, the full-scale portal to my world is operational," Zephyranthes said. "The next step is to amass an army large enough to quash the rebellion. However, I have been having some technical difficulties with this step."

Bell Wood poked the icon again, and the portal shrank back down before completely closing.

"It seems we are not as quite as identical as we appear, and it is more than just the difference in color of our optics," the other Gundam continued. "When I tried to access your Brain World last night, my Captain System was rejected. It seems that there is a fundamental difference in our core programming that I did not account for. I attempted to find the access codes via your head operator, but she was abruptly removed from my network." He pointed at Captain. "So now, I will have to get the access codes directly from _you_."

"_Never!_" Captain shouted.

The guards simultaneously moved their aim to a point behind him. To his horror, Captain realized they were now targeting _Shute._

"You would not want your human friend to be harmed, now would you?" Zephyranthes said.

Captain desperately looked around again - there had to be a way out! Unfortunately, all of his calculations showed that there was no escape route that would not require grievously injuring one or more of the humans - or get Shute fatally injured in his hypnotized state. He checked the sky; no sign of backup yet. No idea when they'd get here, either. Maybe if he kept his captor talking...

"Wouldn't the Brain World be useless to you?" he asked. "You said the rebels had a way of jamming it!"

"According to my observations, our networks are not identical," Zephyranthes answered. "Yours may be different enough not to be affected by their frequency."

Oh dear, he hadn't thought of that. Still, Captain couldn't back down.

"Giving you access would be pointless, anyway" he said. "You can't access the Brain World in this dimension without the Re-Equip Ring!"

"I had your head operator install a bypass while she was still on my network," Zephyranthes replied.

Captain was stunned - such a workaround was possible? He was snapped back to reality when a beam shot out of one of the guard's rifles and burned a hole right at Shute's feet.

"I can't help but notice that you are stalling," the other Gundam said, his optics growing paler. "Please tell me the access codes or else I will terminate your friend."

Captain's CPU was racing. Fake codes! Maybe he could buy some time by making something up! He sincerely hoped Zephyranthes would fall for it...

Thankfully, he didn't need to say anything; he was saved by the sound of propellers, jets, and a very large engine in the distance. As Zephyranthes paused to look around for the source of the noises, Captain used the opportunity to pull the patch off Shute's arm. The boy's eyes rolled up in his head, and he began to fall over. The Gundam caught him with his free arm before he hit the ground.

"_Shute!_" Captain cried, giving the human a gentle shake.

The boy did not respond. Meanwhile, the patch's needles twitched wildly as it tried to wriggle its way out of Captain's hand. The Gundam angrily crushed it in his palm. The thin legs snapped easily, but the glass wouldn't crack no matter how much pressure he applied.

"You shouldn't have done that."

Captain looked over his shoulder to see that Zephyranthes had turned his attention back to him.

"You could have given your friend brain damage," he said impassively.

Captain's Soul Drive burned with rage rather than determination. How could another version of himself be so cruel? How could he do something so heinous? He highly considered Captain Punching his twin right between those empty optics, but the arrival of reinforcements spared him the trouble. Guneagle swooped down from the sky and landed outside the circle of armed guards, with the Gunchoppers following his lead. Gunbike in his Gunpanzer form brought up the rear. He pulled up right in front of a bridge, but due to his weight, he did not try to cross it. Meanwhile, Zephyranthes glanced at Bell Wood, who turned away from his workbench and slowly wandered off in the general direction of security headquarters.

"This is the end of the road, Zeke...uh, Zefron...whatever your name is!" Guneagle growled.

"Captain Zephyranthes, you are hereby under arrest," Gunchopper One announced.

"Put down your weapons and surrender at once," Gunchopper Two added.

"You _arrived_ just in _time_," Zephyranthes said to them, peppering his sentences with odd emphases for reasons Captain couldn't fathom. "Zephyranthes _just_ took _Shute_ as a _hostage._"

Captain stepped backward, flabbergasted "That's not true!" He turned to the other Gundams. "Geneagle, Gunchoppers...you recognize me, don't you? Look at our optics - we're not identical!"

However, the flying mechs just looked back and forth in confusion. Captain looked over at his twin and quickly saw why - Zephyranthes had adjusted the color of his lenses to a medium blue. He then realized that Zephyranthes' strange way of talking earlier was meant to mimic emotions.

"What the heck is goin' on over there?!" Gunpanzer barked. "Arrest the varmint already!"

"Uhh...we're trying, but..." Guneagle stammered, "we kinda can't tell which is which!"

"Even if you can't readily identify us, could you please take Shute to safety?" Captain pleaded. "He lost consciousness after I removed the patch from him. I'm afraid he might be comatose."

"Do not _listen_ to him," Zephyranthes said, raising his voice. "He is _controlling_ these human _guards._ The _second_ you approach, they will _open fire._"

"Does anyone have any suggestions about what we should do?" Gunchopper One asked his comrades.

"Perhaps we should ask a question that only our Captain would know," Gunchopper Two replied.

"Perhaps," One answered. "However, how similar are our dimensions? We may have to ask several questions until one of them answers incorrectly."

"You guys are overthinkin' it," Guneagle interrupted. "I'll just shake hands with 'em! Whichever one tries to break my fingers again is the fake! And don't worry about little ol' me, I don't mind takin' one for the team!"

"To do that, you would have to go inside the ring of guards," Gunchopper Seven piped up. "If what one of the Captains said is right, they may shoot you."

"Uhh...good point."

"Gosh darn it, do I gotta do everything around here?" Gunpanzer shouted from across the bridge. "Just arrest them both! We'll get our culprit either way, and I'm sure the real Captain won't mind!"

The Gunchoppers nodded to each other in agreement, and Guneagle just shrugged. As they debated on the best way to approach the guards, Captain saw Zephyranthes' optics flash white. Immediately, the humans turned and aimed their rifles at the other Gundams.

"What the-?!" Gunpanzer sputtered. "Was it somethin' I said?!"

The sound of laser blasts rang out as guards fired upon them. The flying mechs took to the air while Gunpanzer drove off. The two Captains ran off in opposite directions. Zephyranthes searched for the best vantage point, while Captain searched for a safe place to take Shute.

He ran up to the largest pillar he could find and ducked behind it. It wasn't the best cover, it would do for now. He carefully lowered his still-unconscious friend to the ground and gave him a gentle shake. Still no response. Captain did a quick scan of his vitals. Body temperature was normal, but his pulse was only 50bpm and his breathing rate was only 10 breaths per minute. He needed medical attention as soon as possible.

Captain scanned the battlefield for potential exits. Right now, the guards were focusing their fire on the Gunpanzer, who had changed into robot mode. He was just standing there, shouting insults and letting them shoot him. The lasers couldn't pierce his thick armor, but it still seemed odd that he would just sit around and take all that punishment. A moment later, Captain saw the reason why - a couple of Gunchoppers swooped down, and each grabbed a distracted guard from behind. More Gunchoppers swooped by and removed their control patches. The guards fainted, and the mechs that were holding them air lifted them off the battlefield. Captain became concerned, as Zephyranthes mentioned that method could cause brain damage - but what choice did they have at this point?

The strategy didn't work for long, however, as the hive mind's master quickly grew wise to it. The guards switched targets, and were now trying to shoot down the Gunchoppers. Gunpanzer yelled some more insults and even fired a few warning shots into the air, but they simply ignored him.

With the enemy preoccupied, the path right in front of Captain was clear. He could carry Shute out of Lab C on foot before flying him off to somewhere that was relatively safe. Hopefully, no one would notice him.

He carefully picked the boy up in his arms, engaged the tires on his feet, and sped toward the nearest bridge. Just as he started to cross it, however, something dropped down from the sky directly in his path. Captain slammed on his brakes and skidded to a halt centimeters away from the thing.

"Hold it right there, Zeke! Or whatever," it said.

Captain took a few milliseconds to process the situation before crying, "Guneagle! You really surprised me there!" He held up his friend's limp form. "Please, help me get Shute somewhere safe! I took his patch off, and-"

"Save it, pal!" Guneagle snapped. "I gotta know if you're the real Captain first!"

He held out his hand.

"There's no time!" Captain cried. "We've got to-"

Guneagle responded by stretching his hand closer.

Captain sighed and, after carefully shifting Shute, shook the younger mech's hand. Afterward, Guneagle looked over his undamaged fingers and nodded.

"Yup. I kinda figured you were legit," he said. "Your evil twin doesn't exactly care about human lives as much." He hovered a few feet off the ground. "C'mon, let's get the kid outta here! I'll cover you!"

The two Gundam took off into the desert, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the battlefield. They thankfully managed to stay off the enemy's radar, as not a single beam was fired their way. After flying a few meters, they ran into Gunchopper Seven who was on his way back from dropping off his own human cargo. Seven spotted Captain and immediately flew into his path much in the same way Guneagle did.

"Halt!" he shouted. "I apologize Captain, but I must place you-"

"Save it!" Guneagle interrupted. "I got it on good authority that he's the real thing. Besides, we got something more important to worry about." He pointed at the motionless boy in Captain's arms.

"Yes, I remember what you said about him earlier," Seven replied. He reached out and gently took Shute off of Captain's hands. "We are currently placing the unconscious humans at security headquarters. More reinforcements are on the way, including medic Gunperries."

"Thanks Gunchopper Seven," Captain said. "And while you're out there, could you look for Bell Wood, too? I saw him wander out of the lab, but I don't know where he went."

"Already done, Captain," Seven explained. "I found Dr. Bell Wood heading to headquarters on his own. I picked him up and carried him the rest of the way. He did not resist, and he is not currently trying to leave."

"Excellent."

"Well, now that that's finished, I'm gonna go back and rejoin the party!" Guneagle announced. "I got a bone to pick with that Zack guy!"

"Guneagle, wait!" Captain shouted.

Before his vocalizer could even finish those words, however, the younger mech had already flown several meters straight up into the air. In seconds, he was already above the battlefield.

Captain sighed. "I'll have to go after him," he said to Seven. "For now, tell the other Gunchoppers to try to knock the humans unconscious if they can. Zephyranthes said that removing the patches could cause brain damage."

"Right away, sir," Seven replied.

"And if you have time, check on the GM guards back at headquarters" Captain continued. "See if any of them have come back online."

"Roger."

Gunchopper Seven then lifted off and carried Shute down the desert road to safety. Meanwhile, Captain flew off in the opposite direction, back into the fray. He needed to find Guneagle before he walked straight into a trap.

* * *

Zephyranthes had made his way the other side of the Dimensional Transport Device, and had taken refuge in an alcove inside of a tall pillar. From here, he commanded his network of human drones. He estimated that the battle would only last a few more minutes due to all of the tactical errors his opponents were making. None of them were actively searching for him; they only concerned themselves with trying to knock the guards offline. They were refusing to terminate his servants, instead opting to have the Gunchoppers manually detach his control patches. This required getting very close to his units while being greatly outnumbered; as such, they were mostly unsuccessful. Finally, Gunpanzer, who could have posed a great threat, was permanently sidelined due to mobility issues.

Zephyranthes decided to end this fight faster; the more they fought here, the more damages the Dimensional Transport Device would receive. He selected three guards to stand slightly apart from the others. He didn't have to wait long; a Gunchopper swooped down behind one of them, taking the bait. The Gunchopper proceeded to disarm and hold down the human as he waited for a comrade to come help him. Meanwhile, Zephyranthes moved another guard directly behind the enemy mech.

His drone aimed their beam rifle directly at the Gunchopper's head...

"Hey there, Captain! I finally found you!"

The rifle veered to the right, causing the shot to completely miss its target. The Gunchopper, now realizing someone was behind him, escaped with his captive in tow.

Zephyranthes already knew who it was before his head swung around. It was Guneagle, nonchalantly standing next to him. Somehow, this one managed to be more smug than the one from his dimension. Zephyranthes felt a great urge to rip his faceplate off, but restrained himself from doing so. He had a much better idea in mind.

"Guneagle! Am I _glad_ to _see_ you!" he said.

He ordered one of his troops to sneak around to his side of the Dimensional Transport Device. He made sure to pick a well-covered path so as not to attract the Gunchoppers' attention.

"You're not still going to _arrest_ me, are you?" Zephyranthes added.

"Nah, it's okay," Guneagle replied. "We caught that Zeffy guy."

"Oh, _really?!_" Zephyranthes asked. "Did you _lock_ him up, too?"

"We sure did!" Guneagle leaned in closer and looked him straight in the optics. "We got Shute to safety, too. Bet you're relieved, right?"

"Oh, of course!" Zephyranthes didn't miss a beat, but he didn't like where this conversation was going. Not that it mattered, his sniper had just rounded a nearby corner and was ready to be placed into position. He had her duck between two pillars one hundred meters away from his and Guneagle's location. It was the perfect spot, as there was nothing in between his sniper and her target.

"Anyway, the guards are still shootin' at us, so we better get back and do something about them." Guneagle held out his hand. "Here, let me help you outta there!"

Zephyranthes tried not to narrow his optics or stare at the hand. He had to admit, he didn't think this Guneagle was smart enough to act nor attempt a ruse like this.

He had his sniper take aim. Unfortunately, that "perfect spot" wasn't as perfect as his calculations suggested it was. His sniper's feed screen was only showing Guneagle's wings and back.

Thankfully, Zephyranthes knew how to fix that.

He took Guneagle's hand. "Alright, let's go!" he said, trying his best to sound cheerful.

Before the flying mech had a chance to respond, Zephyranthes shoved him hard, causing him to stagger right into the path of the sniper's aim. She immediately fired.

Her energy bolt flew through empty space and scorched a rock in the far distance. Guneagle had shot straight upward before she had even pulled her trigger. He was now hovering high in the air, wagging his finger at Zephyranthes below.

"You're gonna hafta get up earlier than that if you wanna catch me, Ziti!" he taunted.

Though his rage did not show on his face, Zephyranthes was furious. Without a word, he drew Captain's beam rifle and opened fire upon the younger mech, ordering his minion to do the same. Guneagle swooped around, dodging the shots before firing his own blaster at Zephyranthes. The latter jumped out of the way, but stumbled upon landing and fell face-down. Captain's rifle and shield clattered to the ground and skidded a few feet away.

Zephyranthes immediately picked himself up and reached for the gun, but Guneagle swooped down and snatched it away, along with the shield. "Not today, pal!" he shouted as he flew off.

He then hurtled toward the brainwashed guard, using Captain's shield to block her fire. He stopped right in front of her, threw Captain's gun down, and then used his newly-freed hand to knock the guard's rifle out of her grasp. The disarmed guard lunged at Guneagle, making a grab for the cables in his neck. In the process, she accidentally revealed her mind control patch on her wrist. Guneagle plucked it off with a quick jerk, and she instantly dropped to the ground, unconscious. The Gundam floated down, dropped the shield, and dragged her to safety behind a larger column.

"Not bad, if I do say so myself," he commented as he admired his handiwork. "I'll hafta get a Gunchopper over here to pick her up. But first..."

He turned around to face Zephyranthes.

"Okay Zeff, this party's over!" he shouted. "Your unconditional surrender will be-"

Guneagle froze. While he had been tangling with the guard, Zephyranthes had somehow set himself on fire. The blaze surrounding him had flames of pitch black and produced neither heat nor smoke. It suddenly extinguished itself, revealing Zephyranthes in his Hyper Captain mode.

Guneagle wasn't given any time to wonder how he did that; Zephyranthes immediately rushed him, his speed enhanced by his new jet boosters. He punched Guneagle right in the midsection, sending him sailing through the air. The young Gundam managed to activate his thrusters and catch himself in midair, but a V-shaped beam from Zephyranthes caused him to crash down to the ground anyway. Before he could even make a move, the other Captain stomped down on his chest. Guneagle struggled to get out from under him, but he could barely move - it was like being sat on by a Big Zam.

"You have proven yourself to be more irritating than my own Guneagle," Zephyranthes said, his voice unwavering. "I will take great pleasure in dismantling you."

Desperate, Guneagle fired one of his wing missiles at Zephyranthes' face. He knew he'd damage himself in the explosion, but something was better than nothing. However, with a remarkable display of reflexes, Zephyranthes snatched it out of the air and threw it off course. It went careening out of the lab area and blew up a sand dune.

The vile Gundam unsheathed one of his beam sabers and activated it. "Perhaps I should start by removing these ridiculous wings first," he added, reaching down and grabbing one of Guneagle's wings by its fins.

But just as he was about to start cutting...

_BAM!_

A fist came out of nowhere, striking Zephyranthes right across his faceplate. He dropped his saber as he was thrown off Guneagle and rolled several meters away. As he staggered back to his feet, he found his twin standing beside his damaged comrade.

"Don't lay a hand on my friends ever again!" Captain shouted.

Behind him, Guneagle groaned as he slowly got up. "Thanks, Captain," he said.

"Are you alright?" Captain asked while keeping his optics locked on his double. Zephyranthes stared right back him with those blank eyes, not making a move. Captain had no idea how he had suddenly changed into his hyper mode, but now was not the time to ask questions.

"I'm okay," Guneagle replied, "but I think I lost your stuff somewhere."

"That won't be a problem," Captain said, still watching his alternate self. "I may not need them." He had fought an evil duplicate before. Of course, Duel Captain was a mindless automaton; Zephyranthes was more comparable to Madnug but with different goals. And far more manipulative.

"You sure? 'Cause I gotta warn ya, this guy's got a really weird special move!" Guneagle continued. "It lets him change modes!"

"It what?"

It was then that Zephyranthes finally made his move. He pumped his fists and a black fire ignited all around him. Captain's sensors informed him that not only were these "flames" not producing heat, they were actually ten degrees colder than the surrounding air.

"There! There it is!" Guneagle shouted. "It's that thing I was talking about! He's gonna change modes again!"

Captain braced himself. The darkness surrounding Zephyranthes had a different energy signature than the one produced by General Zeong and the Dark Axis. And yet...he had seen it somewhere before.

The flames abruptly extinguished themselves to reveal...

...Zephyranthes wearing a duck-shaped inner tube and colorful arm floaties.

Captain and Guneagle's optics went wide, and they almost fell over. Zephyranthes muttered to himself about some sort of "devil" being unreliable as he burst into black flames yet again. A second later, he was in his Option Z mode.

Captain swung his arm in circles, readying another punch, but never got the chance. In a flash of black, Zephyranthes created two beam rifles out of thin air and opened fire on the two Gundams. Captain was forced to wheel himself out of the way while Guneagle took to the air. The younger mech fired off his remaining missiles, but Zephyranthes countered with his own. The latter's barrage not only destroyed the former's salvo, there was enough left over to blast Guneagle out of the sky. Hearing the explosion, Captain skidded to a halt and turned around just in time to see his comrade plummet into a column.

"Guneagle, no!" he cried.

Zephyranthes then turned his attention back to Captain and started shooting at him with his beam rifles. With no long-range weapons on hand, Captain tried his best to dodge the beams on the ground. He noticed that his counterpart seemed to be aiming at his feet. Was he being routed?

A second later, he was suddenly bombarded by laser bolts from straight ahead and both sides. He was forced to stop and to take cover. Brainwashed SDG guards came out of the woodwork and surrounded him, their weapons trained on him. Yes, he _was_ being routed.

Fortunately, he didn't have to worry about his predicament for too long, as the sound of rotating blades filled his audio sensors. Six of the seven Gunchoppers floated onto the scene in V-formation and began swooping down on the humans, airlifting them out of Captain's way. They created a path for him that led out into the desert.

"Let us take care of them for you, Captain!" Gunchopper One called to him. "Gunpanzer is en route with your upgrades."

"Roger!" Captain called back. "I'm on my way!"

He ignited his jets and left the lab area, flying low to avoid attention. Once he out in the sand, he began scanning the area for Gunpanzer. Suddenly, he heard a series of explosions behind him. A quick glance over his shoulder revealed Zephyranthes shooting down a Gunchopper with his V-Attack. Captain couldn't tell if the unfortunate mech was still carrying a human.

The sound of a loud engine rumbling caught his attention, and he looked away from the horrible sight behind him. In the distance, a huge dust cloud churned in his general direction. Amid the swirling sands, he saw a familiar blue and white vehicle driving as fast as it could.

"Over here, Captain!" Gunpanzer's voice called out.

Captain immediately took off toward the old Gundam, hoping his twin wasn't right behind him. He dived down and landed in Gunpanzer's trailer. Various firearms and pieces of armor were in there as well, ready for use.

"Glad to see the real you, Captain!" Gunpanzer said.

"Good to see you too," Captain replied.

"I'll keep ya covered as ya change forms," the vehicular mech continued. "Just pick one ya want and blast that phony outta the sky!"

"Right!"

Captain briefly glanced around at the equipment. They belonged to the forms he used in the Dimensional Halo, all of which were compatible with his default mode. Since Zephyranthes' was currently equipped with missiles, it made sense to have missiles of his own. But just as Captain was about to change into his Destroyer Form, a bright gleam caught his eye. In the sky was a shiny metallic object. With a smoke trail. That was headed right for them.

"_Incoming!_" he yelled, grabbing the nearest weapon. It wasn't the Destroyer's micro-missile launcher like he wanted, but instead his Assault Form's long-range laser cannon. It would have to do.

Gunpanzer veered hard to the left, nearly knocking Captain off of his feet. He was still able to shoot the missile down, which exploded harmlessly in the air.

"Hang onto something, Captain!" he shouted. "It's gonna be a bumpy ride!"

Captain used his eye piece to scan the sky and shoot down any new projectiles that appeared. Meanwhile, Gunpanzer zigged and zagged, avoiding the ones that Captain missed.

"Dagnabbit, where is that varmint?!" he grumbled. "I wanna help ya, but I can't fire back if I can't find him!"

Captain remained silent as he continued scanning for any sign of his alternate self or any more missiles. When he couldn't find anything, he carefully put his beam cannon down, hoping to finally change modes. It was then that a shadow whipped over him. He looked, but it was gone. In its place was a missile fired _at point blank range._

Before anyone could react, it collided with Gunpanzer's side. Captain's optics were flooded with bright light as he was hurled through the air. He crashed into a sand dune seconds later.

He slowly climbed out of the sand. Error messages filled his field of vision. His optics' contrast had been knocked off-kilter by the flash; objects he could see around the text boxes appeared white with a thin outline of washed-out colors.

"...Gunpanzer?!" he called as he tried to clear his optics. "Are you alright?!"

The old mech was eerily silent. After Captain finished adjusting his vision, he quickly found out why. The old mech was a few hundred meters away, lying on his side. He trailer had separated from his cab. Smoke was pouring out of his body, and he wasn't moving. Captain's equipment had spilled out onto the sand all around him.

"He is not," a voice that definitely wasn't Gunpanzer answered.

Captain looked up to find Zephyranthes hovering over him, arms folded and soulless eyes glaring. He glared back; he refused to be intimidated.

The other Gundam lowered himself to the ground, right in front of Captain. "Now that your friends have been taken offline, I may extract the Brain World access codes from you in peace."

"Don't speak too soon!" Captain barked. "I'm not beaten yet!"

He watched his alternate self closely. He planned on waiting until Zephyranthes made his first move, then running over to Gunpanzer to grab his weapons. If they were too damaged to use, he still had his fists.

The hyper-mode Captain just shook his head. "You still insist on being irrational," he replied. "Very well, I will have to do this the hard way."

"What...?"

Lines of static began to interfere with Captain's vision. New error messages appeared alerting him to an unauthorized program that had slipped past the SDG network's firewalls and was now invading his processor.

"Though it may be more difficult," Zephyranthes said, "I have no choice but to download them directly from your memory banks."

"No!"

Captain desperately tried to contain the invading programs, but they kept moving themselves to different folders every time he was about to quarantine them. He considered tackling his twin; perhaps it would shock him enough to sever the connection. Unfortunately, something commanded his body to lock up. He couldn't even move his optics let alone his limbs. His voice modulator was shut down as well to keep him silent.

Videos of previous memories began to involuntarily pop-up and play in front of him as the other Gundam began digging around in his memory. Captain found himself unable to close any of them. In one last ditch effort, he tried to shut himself off. Unfortunately, his shut down and reboot options turned out to be compromised as well. There was nothing left to do.

Zephyranthes had total control of his CPU.


	9. Chapter 9

**Spectrophobia  
Chapter 9**

A full moon hung low in the night sky, casting its light over the desert. It illuminated the broken, scarred form of a Dimensional Transport Device, shining through its charred holes from some battle long since passed. Its largest columns were burned, its smallest pillars were crushed, and its rotors were bent and swinging loose. The main tower had scaffolding around it, as if an attempt at repairs had been made at some point. However, the desert sand had swallowed up parts of it, thanks to many months of disuse.

Five figures approached the forgotten device, walking across one of the only intact bridges. One of them, a young woman, yawned.

"Remind me why we're out in the middle of nowhere at four in the morning?" she muttered.

"Another dimensional rift was detected out here," another figure replied. The figure was covered in heavy armor and greatly resembled a machine. His voice was not synthesized, however, and sounded like a middle-aged man.

"This better not be a dead end like the last two," the young woman grumbled, rubbing her bleary eyes.

A third figure belonging to a GM ran ahead of the group. Energy readings led him to the largest column right in the middle of the device. There, he found a circle of purple light hovering a few feet off the ground. A quick scan of the device showed that it was not generating this portal; in fact, its electricity had been completely cut off.

"We're in luck!" he said to his comrades as they walked across the platform. "The dimensional anomaly is right here!"

"Excellent work," the man said, nodding.

The fourth figure, a Gundam, looked the portal over. "Are we sure Captain Zephyranthes went through it?" he asked.

"Well, no...," the GM answered sheepishly. "We have to find out where it leads, first. Then we'll have to find a way to duplicate the portal, and-"

The last figure, an old woman, walked right up to the portal and stuck her hand through it. The GM jumped. The Gundam just watched. The man tensed, and the younger woman shouted, "Prim what are you doing?!"

On the other side, the SDG guards were busy looking over the offline Gunchoppers and Guneagle. Their orders were to make sure that the Gundams had been destroyed, and to terminate them if they weren't. They didn't notice the lead curtain moving. They didn't see a disembodied hand pull it down off the mirror. And they didn't see the head of old woman wearing a half-face motorcycle helmet emerge from the mirror and take a look around.

After a minute of observation, Prim pulled her head back into her reality. "He's there," she said.

"He is?" the man asked. "Did you see him?"

"I did not see him myself," she replied, "but I saw his handiwork and sensed his corruption."

The Gundam slammed his fist into his hand. "Great! Let's go after him!" he growled.

"Y'know, I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but...how are we gonna do that?" the young woman asked. "I don't think any of us can fit!"

Indeed, the portal was just large enough for Prim to stick her head and shoulders in. Taking into account everyone's weapons and armor, none of them would be able to pass through. As the group tried to think of ways they could squeeze themselves in, the GM walked over to the main column and began brushing a pile of sand away from its base. He uncovered a door for a fusebox and opened it up.

"Perhaps we could get a generator over here, and try to get the Dimensional Transport Device working again," he suggested. "That way, we could create our own portal!"

The door fell off its hinges and clattered to the ground, making the GM jump a little.

"Forget it," the Gundam replied. "Only Bell Wood knew how to operate that thing, and no one's seen him since the rebellion started."

Meanwhile, Prim was kneeling on the ground, rummaging through her satchel. She brought out a piece of white chalk and began placing dried herbs and crystals on the ground.

"I'm familiar with the materials and the spell used to make the portal," she said. "I can try to widen it."

"Really? How long will it take?" the man asked.

"Only a few minutes if everything acts accordingly," the old woman replied. "I warn you though, this is only a temporary solution. The portal will close regardless of its size once their moon sets."

"How long does that give us?"

"About two hours."

The man crossed his arms and nodded. "Alright. We'll prepare while you get set up."

With that, Prim knelt down, swept sand away with her hand, and began to draw a pentacle on the floor with her chalk. The man gave orders as he checked the amount of power still left in his cybersuit. The young woman called home base for backup as she secretly questioned her commander's faith in Prim's strange methods. The GM also contacted the base, but for a portable generator; it was just in case Prim's "magic" didn't work. The Gundam paced back and forth impatiently. He didn't care what worked, he just wanted fulfill his prime directive - dismantle Zephyranthes for good.

* * *

Brief clips of past memories flashed past Captain's optics as Zephyranthes dug through his memory banks for Captain System access. Try as he might he could not stop it.

His first victory against the Dark Axis, deflecting their cannon fire with a Captain Punch...

Looking at clouds with Shute...

Almost getting stepped on by a giant mechanical swan...

Meeting Zero and Bakunetsumaru...

Learning the Gundam Force Triple Attack...

Flinging Bakunetsumaru into the Dark Hole's portals...

Making rice balls...

Acting in _The Blazing Samurai_...

Defeating the Big Zam...

The Dark Axis taking control of nearly every Mobile Citizen in Neotopia with a mass bombardment of Control Horns...

Using the Captain System to free those Mobile Citizens through the Brain World...

Zephyranthes stopped his search for a moment to watch that one, paying close attention to the satellite uplink sequence. He realized, however, that the codes shown were over a year old, so he continued digging through Captain's files for something newer.

Meanwhile, Captain wracked what little memory he could use to find a solution. What could he even do at this point? He couldn't move. He couldn't stop his twin's programs or even close the video boxes.

It was then that he noticed a video that Zephyranthes had glimpsed at and discarded. The screen was partially covered, but Captain could clearly see Commander Sazabi in the center looking very worse for wear. All of his regalia had been ripped off, and his arms were hanging limply and his sides. It must have been footage from the tail end of their battle.

On a whim, Captain commanded the video start playing just to see if he could do it. To his surprise, it did. He heard his own voice yell, "This isn't over!" The camera zoomed in on Sazabi as Captain had charged forward with one last punch. He heard Shute in the background yelling, "Yeah! Knock his block off!"

Zephyranthes quickly stopped the video, but it had done the trick. Shute's encouraging words, even though they were just a recording, activated Captain's Soul Drive. Instantly, he felt power course through his body and was able to move again. He blocked his counterpart from searching his memory, erased all viral programs, and closed all of the videos. With his field of vision clear, he could see Zephyranthes staring back at him, his optics wide and pale.

Captain's work was not finished, however; somehow, Zephyranthes' direct connection to his CPU still survived. Captain opened up his network list to sever the connection himself, but was interrupted when several new video screens popped up and began playing. At first he thought this was some desperate attempt by his twin to hang on - until he noticed what was going on in the videos.

The first one was identical to his initial encounter with the Dark Axis. But the one after that - the one in which Grappler Gouf placed a Control Horn on a swan-shaped boat - was different. Instead of receiving help from Zero, Captain saw "himself" open a side menu that he never saw before and receive instant access to the Brain World. He used it to instantly shut off the Control Horn, much to Grappler's confusion.

The same happened in several other memories. The cranes, the trains, the mayor's Ferris wheel statue - even ones he wasn't there for, such as Annie, Sayla's AI assistant, and the Grippas-1 tunneling robot - all of them were easily solved via quick Brain World access.

Immediately afterward, that quick access was used to give the victim and any other AI in the area orders to seek and destroy all Dark Axis units.

These were not Captain's memories.

More clips appeared. Was his Soul Drive bringing them up? One took place in the Blanc Base's atrium. Humans and GMs were walking through, going about their own business. Many of the humans had those anti-Bagu Bagu patches attached to their clothes. The mysterious menu was opened again and a different option was selected. Lines of code were printed on the screen. All of the patched humans instantly froze. If there was anything in their hands, they dropped it. GMs and humans without a patch accidentally bumped into them or stared at them in confusion. Some even gave the victims a gentle shake or waved their hands in front of their faces.

Another video appeared to take place in a holding cell. A lone Zako was in a corner, cowering in fear. The menu was brought up again, and the Zako went completely still. His optic blinked a few times before turning blue. A network map bearing the Zeong's-head insignia filled the screen. Most of the nodes were labeled with numbers, but the larger ones contained familiar names: Zapper Zaku, Grappler Gouf, Destroyer Dom, and Commander Sazabi. There were also names that Captain didn't recognize; was Zephyranthes' Dark Axis larger than his was?

The network's red connection lines and nodes turned blue in a matter of seconds. The two largest nodes, however, did not change.

A third video showed a badly-beaten Madnug staggering back from the camera. Almost all of his pink Gerbera armor had been ripped away; only half of his helmet and a torn right greave remained. His black Gundam armor was full of holes and sparks were pouring out of his body. He was surrounded on all sides by his own minions - Zakos, the squad leaders, Sazabi, and a whole host of unknown robots. Their optics had changed from pink to blue, and they all stared into space as they pointed their weapons at their wounded leader.

"You...you won't...t-t-take me...aLIVE!" Madnug sputtered.

He then activated his jets and barged through a wall of hijacked Zakos behind him. The camera chased him to a pit of molten Gundanium, which he promptly threw himself into. The picture began to violently shake and the video closed itself.

One final video featured a Zero lookalike. His color scheme and armor design were the same, but his proportions were different. He was a foot taller, had a much larger upper torso, and arms so long that they nearly dragged on the ground.

"Rumor hazzit that there's some kinda demon king sealed away under Lacroa." The Knight Gundam had a gravel voice that was an octave deeper than Zero's. "S'called the Devil Super...Supper? Ach! Somethin' to do with a 'devil'!"

"You believe that this 'Devil' can be used to eliminate General Zeong?" Zephyranthes' voice asked.

"Can it?! Well, it only became king by killin' all the other demon lords, so I'm guessin' a general wouldn't stand much of a chance!" The Zero let out a few guffaws before becoming serious again. "But the trick is summoning it, y'see. First, we've got to sacrif-"

The video vanished along with all of the others as Zephyranthes disconnected himself. He glared at Captain with bright white eyes.

"I do not know how you did that," he said, "but you are beginning to anger me."

Captain clenched his fist. With his Soul Drive still active, it radiated a bright golden glow.

"I will not let you enslave Neotopia, Captain Zephyranthes!" he shouted. "Lay down your weapons and surrender at once!"

"You are forgetting that I have one more card to play," the other Gundam said, gesturing in the direction of the Dimensional Transport Device.

"What do you mean?" Captain asked. Was he going to destroy the device? What good would that do him?

His optics zoomed in on the device. He spotted the mind-controlled SDG guards still standing around over there as well as his fallen comrades. His Soul Drive lost its energy out of shock as he put two and two together.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Normally, it would be disadvantageous to sacrifice my own troops," Zephyranthes replied. "However, you have given me no other feasible option." He crossed his arms. "You have sixty seconds to divulge your current Captain System access code, or I will begin terminating them."

_Again_ with human hostages?! Captain began considering his earlier plan of creating false codes when he saw something move in the distance. One of the guards had fallen over. A second later, another fell down.

Zephyranthes must have noticed his minions disappearing from his network, as he turned around to look. As more humans suddenly collapsed, short robotic figures, some armed with tranquilizer guns, began to emerge from behind pillars and columns. It was the SDG GM guards, now back online. Despite being damaged, they continued to sedate their human brethren, remove their patches, and drag them off the battlefield. In moments, the humans had all been knocked out. The GMs traded their tranquilizer guns for standard issue beam rifles, and started rushing toward the two Captains as fast as they could go.

"Your attempt at taking hostages has failed again, Zephyranthes," Captain remarked. "You should sur-"

He finished his sentence with a gasp as his twin fired the rest of his missiles at the oncoming guards. Fortunately, the projectiles were immediately shot out of the air by gatling fire from above. Gunchopper Seven in his helicopter mode flew overhead.

"That is on behalf of my brothers!" he shouted. "Do not think I did not see what you did to them!"

As Seven banked around for a landing, the GMs surrounded Zephyranthes, weapons drawn. A few others ran off into the distance to help Gunpanzer. Lieutenant VT1965 stood at Captain's side, carrying his rifle and shield.

"You are un-un-under arrest, Captain Zephyranthes!" she called to the other Gundam. "Lay down your weapons! We have-have-have you surrounded!"

She then turned to Captain and handed him his things. "I found these laying around the dev-dev-device," she told him. "I'm guessing they-they belong to you."

"Thank you, lieutenant," he said, accepting his shield and weapon. "Are you sure you are in good enough condition to battle?"

"Oh, don't worry about-about-about-" The lieutenant smacked the side of her head. "Don't worry about me, it's just a vocalizer glitch."

Captain knew it was more than that, but he nodded anyway. "We will take you and your troops in for repairs as soon as possible," he replied. "But first..."

He turned back to Zephyranthes, aiming his rifle at him. Behind him, Seven had landed and was now standing on his other side, completing the circle around the troublesome Gundam.

"This is your last chance," Captain warned his alternate self as he pointed his gun at him. "Surrender now, or we _will_ use force!"

Zephyranthes' eyes became white again, and his green optical display faded to black.

"Your numbers do not intimidate me," he said ominously. "You are critically underestimating my abilities."

He slowly lifted off the ground. Thinking that the Gundam was trying to escape, a few of the guards fired upon him. However, a strong wind whipped up around their target, obscuring their view and pelting them with sand.

Zephyranthes crossed his arms in front of his face. Black fire poured out of his jet boosters, first from the sides, then from the top and bottom. The flames had feathered ends, giving them the appearance of wings. The sky darkened despite a lack of clouds, and turned an eerie purple. The sun became a pinprick of light before disappearing entirely.

Everyone looked around in confusion except for Captain, who was trying to keep his focus on his twin. The ominous dark sky was reminding him of his final battle with General Zeong.

Zephyranthes thrust his arms out, and a powerful shockwave knocked everyone off their feet. Captain picked himself up and saw the other Gundam surrounded by purple energy in the shape of a cross with pointed ends. Two wing-like shafts sprouted out of the cross's bottom and two short, claw-like appendages emerged from its top. Captain realized Zephyranthes looked a lot like he did when his Soul Drive had fully activated during the aforementioned final battle. That purple glyph resembled the Lacroan illustration of the Superior Dragon...but wrong somehow.

"**I was built to protect my Neotopia at any cost,**" Zephyranthes boomed down at everyone, his voice echoing. "**If that means that I will have to rip your CPU from your body, then so be it.**"

Captain stared him down. "_Any_ cost?" he retorted. "Like becoming just as bad as the Dark Axis?"

"_They are irrelevant,_" the dark Gundam replied. "**You and your friends shall be terminated for your insolence.**"

With that, he stretched his hands out in front of him. A small sphere of darkness appeared between his palms. The purple cross pulsed, and the black flames danced as the sphere began to grow.

"He-he-he's charging some sort of attack!" Lieutenant VT1965 shouted. "Don't let him finish! Fire at-at-at will!"

The GM squadron obeyed, but their beams were swallowed up by flames that spontaneously ignited around Zephyranthes. Captain's shots from his rifle yielded the same result. Seven fired his gatling gun, but all of his bullets stopped in midair and fell to the ground.

"This isn't good," Captain remarked.

Zephyranthes' dark energy sphere was now the size of a basketball.

"Captain!" a mechanical voice shouted off in the distance. "Over here!" The Gundam and the lieutenant turned to see one of the GMs that had been helping Gunpanzer was heading their way. They were dragging along a huge, multi-barreled weapon that was nearly as big as they were. Captain recognized it as one of his Destroyer form's missile launchers.

"I think this is yours," the guard said. "I found it buried in the sand."

"Good work, soldier!" Captain replied, taking the launcher.

The guard saluted and ran off to find anything else that could be useful. Captain attached the huge weapon to his arm and hoped that it was still functional. Fortunately it was, and it unloaded all of its micro missiles upon Zephyranthes. The GMs took cover from the series of explosions.

Once the dust settled, however, the other Gundam was revealed to be surrounded by a purple barrier and unscratched. The dark energy sphere grown to the size of a Zako soldier. The ground began to shake.

"What are we going to do, Captain?" Seven asked. "None of our weapons are effective."

"I...I'm not sure," Captain answered. They had tried everything available to them. Actually, no, not everything...he had yet to Captain Punch Zephyranthes. But in order to do that, he needed to synchronize with Shute's mind, and the boy was currently unconscious.

Or maybe he didn't; earlier, it activated from a recording of Shute's voice. Could that be all he needed?

He reopened that memory clip from the end of the Sazabi battle and replayed the part where his friend cheered him on.

"Yeah! Knock his block off!"

Captain felt his Soul Drive flare up again and warmth flowed through his systems. His right fist glowed with a bright golden light, and began rotating faster and faster. He successfully activated the drive again...but would it be enough?

He swung his arm in a wide circle as he activated his jet boosters. He flung himself at Zephyranthes just as the other Gundam threw the energy ball at him.

Captain collided fist-first with the dark projectile, which was almost as big as he was. At first, he thought the ball would instantly explode and destroy him, but fortunately, that didn't happen. By some miracle, his Soul Drive's energy negated the darkness, and it dissipated harmlessly. He flew right through it, continuing on his trajectory right for Zephyranthes' face.

Unfortunately, his other self managed to block him by grabbing his fist. Captain groaned in pain as the rotating gears in his wrist ground to a halt.

"**Destroying my energy attack was most impressive,**" Zephyranthes commended him. "**However, this is as far as you will go.**"

He shoved Captain's fist back and yanked his arm above his head. Captain yelled as his fingers were nearly crushed, and his hydraulic joints were almost pulled apart. He tried to shake his hand loose, but Zephyranthes had it in a death grip. He tried to pull his hand out with his other arm, but his twin's fingers never so much as budged. He turned up his thrusters as high as they would go, and tried to push against the other Gundam. Zephyranthes never moved.

"**It was very foolish of you to think you could defeat me,**" he said. "**This is the same power I used to banish General Zeong from my plane of existence. Your probability of victory is at exactly zero percent.**"

"I...I don't care!" Captain said, trying to keep the pain out of his voice. "I won't...I won't let you...take over my Neotopia!"

"**So be it.**"

There was a sickening crack as Zephyranthes tightened his grip on Captain's hand. Captain screamed as his fingers were slowly crushed. The golden glow rapidly waned as the flames of his Soul Drive began to die down.

"Don't give up, Cap-Captain!"

In his confusion, Zephyranthes stopped squeezing Captain's hand and looked around for the source of the voice. Captain realized it was coming from his radio.

"Don't let that guy intimidate you!" Lieutenant VT1965's voice shouted. "You can be-be-beat him! I believe in you!"

"She is correct!" Gunchopper Seven's voice broke in. "You have what it takes to defeat him, Captain! I believe in you too! We all do!"

Loud cheering erupted over the audio link. Captain glanced down to see all of the guards jumping up and down while waving. The encouragement recharged his Soul Drive, and soon his energy was back to its initial level.

However, it did not give him enough strength to free his fist from Zephyranthes' iron grasp. Said Gundam immediately resumed crushing Captain's fingers again while also twisting his arm.

"**Empty platitudes will not save you,**" he taunted as Captain struggled not to scream.

"Shut up, Zeppole! Nobody cares what you think!" a new person interjected over the radio.

Zephyranthes immediately recognized the voice. "**I thought I destroyed you!**"

"Well you didn't do a very good job!" Guneagle's voice retorted.

"Guneagle...you're alright...?" Captain grunted, still in pain.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Captain," the younger Gundam replied. "The guards got me back online. Normally I'd kick that guy's afterburner for what he did, but everybody's saying I better not. So get him for me, okay?"

"We are with you Captain, all the way!" Gunchopper One's voice broke in.

"_You can do it!_" Gunchoppers Two through Six shouted simultaneously.

"What they said!" Gunpanzer added. "Give 'im an extra-hard whuppin' for trashin' my trailer!"

Captain's Soul Drive received a great increase in power. Golden light began to pour out of his joints and his back. He was able to shove Zephyranthes' back and fully extend his arm. The other Gundam wasn't able to clamp down his fingers any harder, but Captain couldn't quite get his hand free. If only he had just a little more strength...

He suddenly heard a voice that definitely wasn't coming from his radio.

_Hey, Captain! Can you hear me down here?!_

"Shute?" How was that possible? The boy was knocked unconscious.

_I see you and the other Captain having some kinda fight in the sky! Except, the other you is somehow in hyper-mode...and he's a weird color, too. I think I might be having a dream, because everything's made out of red rocks except for you guys. If it isn't a dream, though, you can beat that guy! You defeated Zeong, this guy should be easy!_

"Alright, Shute," Captain replied. "I will."

"**You must be malfunctioning. You are talking to someone who isn't here,**" Zephyranthes said. "**Perhaps your audial hallucinations are being caused by your active Soul Drive. I must admit that I have underestimated its energy output, but it is not supplying you enough power to best me in combat.**"

He held out his free hand and a beam saber materialized in it with a flash of black fire. It produced a long, red blade.

"**I will end this battle now.**"

"You're right about that, Zephyranthes," Captain said, staring his twin right in the eyes. "This battle _is_ over!"

Captain became enveloped in blinding light as his Soul drive reached maximum output. A pointed, golden cross appeared around him. Shafts of light resembling wings radiated out of the top of the glyph.

"**What is happening?!**" Zephyranthes cried, the saber suddenly evaporating in his hand. Captain swore he saw actual fear in those white eyes. "**How are you doing this?!**"

"This is the true power of the Soul Drive!" Captain replied. "Power you could experienced yourself...if you didn't use everyone like pawns!"

He yanked his fist out of Zephyranthes' hand with a flick of his wrist. Then, with a cry of "CAPTAIN PUNCH!" he delivered a knock-out blow right across the dark Gundam's faceplate. Zephyranthes plummeted to the ground in a black fireball creating a crater in the sand. When the flames died out, he was back in his default mode with his normal paint job. His optics were shut off.

The sky returned to its usual shade of blue, and the late afternoon sun reappeared. The guards cautiously hobbled closer to the fallen Gundam, their weapons still drawn. Captain floated down to the ground, still glowing brightly. Only when his scans revealed no activity in his twin's systems did he allow his Soul Drive to power down. The golden radiance faded away. Gunchopper Seven and Lieutenant VT1965 hurried up to him.

"Is he...?" Seven asked.

Captain nodded. "He is offline, but I do not know for how long. We must hurry and secure him before his systems reboot!"

"Rog-roger," VT1965 said, producing a pair of magnetic cuffs from a compartment in her chest. She walked right up to Zephyranthes' unmoving form, and flipped him face-down with a foot. She then pulled his arms behind his back and snapped the cuffs on. They covered his hands and forearms.

"That will do for now, but we will also need to make sure that he cannot receive or transmit signals," Captain continued. "Does your building have holding cells that can do that?"

"I thi-think they can," the lieutenant answered, "but I'm not-not entirely sure. We've nev-never had a problem like this."

Seven tapped Captain on the shoulder. "Perhaps we will not need to worry. Look!"

He pointed at the sky above the Dimensional Transport Device. A fleet of Gunperries were slowly flying their way, led by Chief Haro's personal white vessel. The air was filled with the sound of propellers and engines as they dipped down to land. One group landed by the device to pick up wounded guards and damaged Gundam Force members. Another group landed over by security headquarters to collect anyone still there. Finally, the last group landed in the nearby sands. As the white Gunperry flew overhead, Captain saw a tiny figure leap off its roof. A second later, Chief Haro landed on the ground in front of him on a fist and one knee. Such a jump could have severely injured a normal human, but the chief's physiology was...unique. Captain secretly found it baffling at times.

Everyone holstered their weapons and saluted as Haro stood up.

"At ease, everyone," he said in response. The crowd put their arms down, and the guards went back to watching the fallen Gundam closely.

Captain stepped forward. "Mission accomplished, chief," he reported. "Captain Zephyranthes has been neutralized and ready to be transferred back to base. Suggested mode of transport would be in a containment unit that can block all transmissions."

"Excellent work, Captain," the chief replied. "We have a Faraday cage ready for him in both my Gunperry and at the base. But before we discuss anything else..."

He pulled a small rectangular object that almost resembled a cell phone out of his jacket.

"I apologize, Captain," he said. "I must do this as a precaution. It will only take a minute."

Haro tapped the screen and a diagnostic box appeared in the Gundam's line of vision. It automatically began scanning for something unknown.

"What?" was all Captain could think to say.

"Kao Lyn gave me this device to scan for foreign coding in your system," the chief explained. "Forgive me, but I need to know if the Captain I'm speaking to is the right one."

"Chief, if I may-may speak freely," Lieutenant VT1965 piped up. "My troops and I wit-witnessed the entire battle, and we know beyond a dou-dou-doubt that this is our Captain."

"Thanks lieutenant, but the chief is right," Captain said to her. "Captain Zephyranthes did in fact try to impersonate me while you were still offline."

The diagnostic box displayed a green check mark and closed itself. Haro put the device back in his jacket.

"No foreign coding detected," he announced. "Thank you for your cooperation, Captain."

"You're welcome, sir."

"Now then, let's get back to business," the chief continued. "Next, I'll need a damage report."

"All human per-personnel are currently unconscious due to removing the pat-patches," the lieutenant said. "About a dozen GM personnel are still off-offline from an earlier altercation with their con-controlled human allies. All active personnel have sustained in-injuries. There are no known casualties at this ti-time."

"Thank you, lieutenant," Haro said. "Reinforcements have been brought in to take over from here." He then addressed the crowd. "Everyone here must report to a medical Gunperry for repairs. You are dismissed."

The guards responded with "Yes, sir!" They headed off to the medical vessels just as another group of GM SDG personnel arrived with a hovering metal pallet. Two members of the new guards lifted Zephyranthes up out of the sand on onto the pallet. With a push of a button on the side, an energy barrier surrounded the Gundam, and they carted him off toward the chief's personal Gunperry.

"Chief, may I make a suggestion?" Captain asked as he watched his twin being escorted away.

"What is it, Captain?" Haro replied.

"Once the Dimensional Transport Device is repaired, I think it would be best if we sent Captain Zephyranthes back to his home dimension," the Gundam said. "It is too dangerous to keep him here. I am certain that when he comes back online, he will most certainly try to enslave the minds of everyone in Neotopia again."

"I understand your concern, Captain, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline your suggestion," the chief said. "Captain Zephyranthes caused an untold amount of damage here today, and I can't even begin to imagine what he might have done to his own Neotopia. I cannot in good conscience send him back there to terrorize innocent people once again."

Captain recalled what he saw in his counterpart's memory clips. "I understand, sir," he replied.

"On the other hand, I realize that it is far too dangerous to keep Captain Zephyranthes around our Neotopia as well," Haro continued. "We are going to keep him at a rehabilitation facility far away from the city. I am in the process of setting one up in-"

They heard shouting in the distance. The both of them immediately thought that the prisoner in question had broken free, and looked up at Haro's Gunperry. However, nothing out of the ordinary was happening over there; shots weren't being fired, and no one was evacuating the airship.

There was, on the other hand, a lot of SDG personnel staring in the direction of the Dimensional Transport Device and pointing.

Suddenly, Guneagle's voice came over Captain's radio.

"Chief! Captain! You gotta see this! The portal's gone crazy! I think something's trying to come out of it!"

They turned around. Even from over here, they could see a bright light shining in the middle of the device.

Captain activated his jets and hovered a few feet into the air.

"Here, chief!" he said, holding out his arms.

Haro grabbed onto Captain's hands, and the Gundam flew him over to the lab. When they arrived, they found the portal glowing with the same intensity as last night. The new guards surrounded it, their weapons drawn. Guneagle was trying to shoo away some medics, who were trying to get him into a Gunperry.

Just as Captain set his feet back on the floor, someone emerged from the mirror.

The figure was as tall as the chief and covered in black armor with a row of golden spines down the middle of their helmet. Some sort of rifle was attached to their right arm. At first, Captain thought they were a machine - perhaps some sort of customized Mobile Citizen or even one of those unknown Dark Axis mechs. However, their movements were far too fluid to be a robot.

The next figure was a GM with sea green torso. He carried a couple of laser pistols at his sides, but he didn't seem to have much else on him. He kept staring at the crowd, as if he was scanning them for something.

Third was a human wearing riot gear and carrying a beam rifle. When she pulled her face mask up, Captain could see the face of a young woman underneath.

Fourth was another human, an old woman with long, faded pink hair. She was wearing what looked like makeshift armor. On her head was a motorcycle half-helmet with a headlight strapped on it. Her body gear looked like fiberglass taken from various cars and patched together. A large leather satchel was at her side.

Bringing up the rear was...Guneagle. A different Guneagle, of course, the one that Zephyranthes had mentioned earlier. His armor was covered in dents and scratches, and one of his V-fins had been snapped in half. When he spotted Captain, he glared daggers at him and put a hand on his blaster. He didn't draw it, however; it was almost as if he was waiting for Captain to make the first move.

Haro pushed past the guards and stepped up to the strangers.

"I am Chief Haro, commander of the Super Dimensional Guard of Neotopia," he announced to them. "Please state your names and business."

The heavily-armored mech approached the chief. Their faceplate slid open to reveal the face of a human male. His slight wrinkles suggested he was middle-aged, and he had a long vertical scar down his left cheek.

"I am Colonel Randolph Connor of the Neotopia Resistance Force," he said, holding out his hand. "We've come here to search for an escaped war criminal from our dimension. He's a Gundam with the designation of GP-01 Captain Zephyranthes."


	10. Chapter 10

**Spectrophobia  
Chapter 10**

Chief Haro stepped forward and shook the rebel leader's hand.

"We actually just apprehended Captain Zephyranthes and took him into custody," he explained. "He tried to access our Brain World to raise an army against you. We will bring him out to you shortly."

"I apologize for any damage he may have done," Colonel Connor said.

"Don't mention it. He had us all fooled," Haro replied. The chief then turned to the guards. "At ease, everyone."

The guards lowered their weapons, but continued to stand around the mirror and their new guests. Behind them, Guneagle was peering over their heads trying to get a good look at his twin. Meanwhile, Haro contacted his Gunperry crew via a special headset attached to his helmet. He ordered them to bring Zephyranthes over to the Dimensional Transport Device.

As Captain watched, something flashed in front of his optics. It looked like a text box, but it was gone before he could get a good look at it. Was someone trying to access his CPU again? His firewalls and antivirus shields hadn't registered anything. His list of networks were not displaying any suspicious new connections. He did notice, however, that the green GM was staring at him. He quickly shifted his gaze when he noticed Captain staring back.

Connor took a few steps back and whispered something to the GM. He was trying to be discreet, but Captain clearly saw him nodding in his direction. By isolating his voice and raising the volume, it was revealed that the leader asked, "Is he clean?" The GM had replied with a simple, "All clear." Connor beckoned the old woman over and quietly asked her the same question. She said that she did not "sense the corruption on him." Captain didn't know what that meant and wasn't sure he wanted to know.

A moment later, Haro removed the headset and turned to his new guests.

"They're bringing him out right now," he announced. "I'll take you there."

The chief lead the rebels out of Lab C and into the desert. The were escorted by half of the SDG guards; the other half stayed behind to monitor the portal in case anything else emerged. Captain brought up the rear, keeping his distance. While he knew that he was innocent of any wrongdoing, for some reason he still felt responsible for everything Zephyranthes had done. It did not make logical sense; while Zephyranthes was the same make and model as himself, they were two distinct entities living in separate universes. Everything his twin did was solely his choice and his fault. Yet the guilt still nagged Captain. He'd have to ask Kao Lyn about this psychological anomaly later.

Meanwhile, Guneagle took to the air to avoid the medics trying to drag him away, and flew after the group. His flight was pretty shaky, however; his wings had been badly mangled by Zephyranthes' assault and his stabilizers were damaged, too. He still managed to catch up to everybody and landed next to his own twin. The other Guneagle gave him only the briefest of side-glances.

"Hey, other Guneagle!" the first Guneagle said. "Uh, that's your name too, right?"

"Gunhawk, actually" the other one replied, still looking straight ahead.

"Ooh, a different name! Just like the other Captain! Speaking of which, you're here to pick up Zucchini, huh? Good luck with him! Real piece of work, that guy!"

"It's 'Zephyranthes.' And yeah, I know."

"It's a real shame that Captain had to go and have an evil twin. But that begs the question..." Guneagle lowered his voice. "You're not _my_ evil twin, are you? I'd like to think that every Guneagle is a great guy in every universe."

Gunhawk finally looked at him. "I was specifically created to hunt down and destroy an amoral dictator," he said. "I think a better question would be, are _you_ the evil twin?"

Guneagle gasped and halted in his tracks at this revelation. This gave the medics enough time to catch him and haul him to a repair ship.

Moments later, Haro, Captain, and the rebels met up with the Gunperry crew, who were lugging the hover platform with them. Zephyranthes was still inside the energy cage, offline.

"Here he is," the chief said to his guests. "We managed to subdue him, but we don't know for how long. We'll help you get him back to your dimension before he comes back online."

"Actually chief, we'd like you to open his cage for us," Connor said. "We have a way to make sure he can't reboot at all, but we need to do it as soon as possible."

"Are you sure it's safe?" Haro asked.

"It'll only take a minute," Connor reassured him.

"Alright. We'll keep a close eye on him." The chief ordered his crew to deactivate the barrier, then told security to be on their guard. A crewmate pressed the button to dissolve the energy walls, while anyone who was armed readied their weapons. Connor cautiously approached the motionless Gundam.

"Okay everybody," he announced to the crowd, "Just so you all know, I'm about to activate a jamming frequency! For those of you machine folk, don't panic! This is just so our friend here can't potentially hack anybody! We clear?"

Before anybody could answer, the golden spikes on the rebel leader's helmet slid forward and opened up on his forehead, resembling a rack of antlers. A soft golden light began to pulse from them, and every robotic SDG officer suddenly found all of their network connections severed.

"That's rather interesting," Chief Haro commented.

"Thanks," Connor replied. "We use it to disconnect people from our Brain World." He looked at the old woman. "Prim? Check him."

"It's him," she said. "I can sense the Devil Superior's darkness all over him."

"Devil Superior"? Was that the same entity that Zephyranthes' version of Zero was talking about? Captain guessed from the name that it might be some malevolent counterpart to the Superior Dragon, but he wasn't sure if he actually wanted to know.

Meanwhile, Connor turned to his GM comrade and said, "Leto, open him up for me."

The GM - Leto apparently - hurried over to Zephyranthes while removing a cable from inside his wrist. He carefully moved the Gundam's head and slipped the other end of the wire between his neck and the base of his helmet. Leto's optic screen flashed a few times before a grinding noise was heard. Suddenly, Zephyranthes' chest compartment popped open revealing his Soul Drive.

Captain hadn't thought much about what his twin's Soul Drive would look like, but if he had to guess, he assumed it would be black, like Madnug and Sazabi's were. Instead, it was empty. A clear glass bubble with no flame nor darkness. Its rings did not spin nor make any other sort of movement at all.

Captain wasn't sure why, but its emptiness unnerved him more than if it was dark.

Connor stepped over to the motionless Zephyranthes and took some sort of tool out of his gauntlet. It resembled a large spoon with sharp tines. He bent over and, in one swift motion, scooped the transparent Soul Drive out of the Gundam's chest. Captain idly wondered if it was that easy when Zako Red did the same thing to him a year ago.

The colonel took the drive in one hand and deactivated his jamming field. The antlers folded themselves up into spines again. "We're done here, chief," he said to Haro. "We'll get him out of your hair now."

Haro nodded and turned to the SDG guards. "Alright, everyone," he announced, "we're heading back!"

The Gunperry crew returned to their ship while Chief Haro, Captain, the rebels, and their entourage marched back to the Dimensional Transport Device with Zephyranthes in tow. When they reached the portal, Gunhawk and Leto lifted the deactivated Gundam off the hover pallet and carried him through it. Connor gave the blank Soul drive to the young woman in riot gear, who followed her two mechanical comrades.

As Captain watched them leave, he suddenly felt a soft hand on his shoulder. He looked up to find Prim holding a piece of paper.

"Here you are, dear," she said, handing him the note.

Curious, Captain opened it up.

_Miss Primrose Marda  
32329 S. 5th Avenue_

"What's this?" he asked.

"This is the person who created the mirror and enchanted it," she explained. "After we leave, seek her out. She'll tell you more about it." She chuckled quietly. "She'll probably be glad you found it - someone stole it from her."

Captain recalled the suspicious vendor who sold Shute the mirror. Could he have stolen it from its original owner? Perhaps a better question would be, how does someone living in a parallel dimension know what happened in this one?

"Thanks for your help," the Gundam said. "If you don't mind me asking, ma'am, how did you find out about this?"

By the time he looked up, however, the elderly woman had already left. She made her way over to the portal and slipped right through it. Captain folded the note up and carefully placed it in his chest compartment. He created a reminder to investigate this person-of-interest later. However, thanks to the massive amount of cleanup today's events were going to need, he estimated that he wouldn't be able to do so for at least a few more days - possibly a week.

Once he saw that all of his troops were safely back in their own dimension, Connor approached the mirror. Before entering, he turned to Chief Haro and said, "I'd like to thank you again for all your help in apprehending Captain Zephyranthes. Means a lot to us."

"Think nothing of it," the chief replied. "Zephyranthes was a threat to us as well. It was our duty to prevent him from harming anyone else." He paused for a second before asking, "Perhaps you'd like us to lend a hand? After we repair our Dimensional Transport Device, we could send some of our people over to help you rebuild your city."

"Thanks chief, but I'm going to have to decline," Connor said. "In fact, it's best if you just forgot all about us."

The "ears" on Haro's helmet flapped in surprise. "May I ask why?"

"Captain Zephyranthes didn't do everything entirely by himself," the rebel leader explained. "He had allies...some of which were worse than him."

"Well, not to sound arrogant, but the SDG _has_ faced some pretty dire threats in the recent past," Haro protested. "Are you absolutely sure you don't want our help? We could always give your our dimension's coordinates in case you change your mind."

"Don't worry about us, chief - we've got things under control for the most part. You should be more concerned about yourselves...you do _not_ want these guys finding your world." Connor's face turned grave. "My colleague Prim is gonna seal the portal behind me. It's best if you just smash this mirror and delete any info you have on us."

"Well...if that's what you wish, so be it," Haro said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "We will honor your request."

"Great. Trust me, you won't regret it," Connor nodded. "And thanks again for all your help today. I wish you guys the best."

With that, he squeezed his armored bulk through the portal. Seconds later, the bright glow faded out and the mirror became dark. Captain cautiously approached it and gave it a scan, noting that he could see his reflection in it again.

"I am no longer detecting any time-space anomalies nor beta decay emanating from this mirror, chief," he reported.

"I guess that's it, then," Haro sighed.

"Do you want me to dispose of it?"

The chief shook his helmeted head. "Not right at the moment," he said. "For now, take it back to my ship. I'll decide what to do with it once we get back to base."

"Yes, sir."

Captain picked the mirror up by its frame - slower than usual, as the joints in his damaged hand briefly locked a few times - and carried it away. Haro stayed behind to give the replacement security guards their temporary assignments and also clear Gunperries for take-off. As the Gundam walked across the sands to the chief's white vessel, an unpleasant feeling began to creep up on him. A sort of chill in his circuits. He recognized this feeling as "dread" - and he knew exactly why he was experiencing it. He estimated that there was only a 0.001% chance that Colonel Connor's request would actually be honored. The mirror's dimensional properties made it far too valuable; every scientist working for the SDG would want to study it. Even Captain was curious as to how it worked.

However, he also knew it was far too dangerous to keep around. As the rebel leader had warned them, Zephyranthes had allies. And they may be coming.

He was greatly tempted to set the mirror down and give it a good Captain Punch with his undamaged hand. Unfortunately, Chief Haro gave him a direct order not to destroy it. So he continued on his way across the desert, that cold feeling continuing to nag him. When he reached the white Gunperry, he dutifully handed the thing off to a couple of crew members, who then hauled it off to the cargo hold. He tried not to look back as he climbed into the ship's cabin.

As Captain patiently waited for the chief to return, he tried to minimize any further thoughts about the mirror and what might come out of it. It wasn't easy. He decided to assess the damage of his right hand - that might keep his processor from making wild speculations. The armor around his digits were badly dented and crushed. The fingers themselves were slow to respond, and its joints kept grinding and wanting to lock. Considering what his opponent did to them, it was amazing they worked at all.

Unfortunately, his memory banks began to replay parts of the previous battle, so he tried looking out the nearest porthole instead. Perhaps watching the crews at work would help. In the distance, he saw personnel picking up debris and discarded equipment out of the sand. A large group of them were hoisting Gunpanzer back on his wheels and preparing him to be towed to a ship. Gunperries were lifting off everywhere; he spotted a few of them flying away from security headquarters area. He wondered if Shute was on one of those ships...and if he would be okay.

* * *

Hours later, Captain was back at the Blanc Base, carrying the mirror into Chief Haro's studio. The chief had told him to put it in there while he made some important phone calls. He hadn't elaborated as to why he wanted it there specifically, but Captain found himself unwilling to question it.

He turned on the lights, and scanned the room for a suitable place to put the thing. All of the sound recording and editing equipment reminded him that he still had that voice analysis to do; of course, now was not the appropriate time to do it.

An empty corner on the far side of the room looked like it had enough space. As he walked over and set the mirror down, he caught a glimpse of himself in it. His systems suddenly bombarded him with warnings as it registered his image as an enemy unit.

"It's only my reflection," he muttered to himself. "My logic circuits must be glitching."

His CPU, however, would not listen to reason; it kept associating the reflection with Zephyranthes. Thus, Captain walked over to another corner of the room where he wouldn't be able to see himself. It made him feel only marginally better; his emotion circuits only experienced a 1% decrease in negativity, and his logic centers wanted to speculate on what kind of allies his twin would have. There was that Zero he saw in the memory file. Was he at all dangerous? Was there an evil version of Bakunetsumaru? An evil Princess Rele? An evil Chief Haro? And what about Zephyranthes' version of the Dark Axis? Since he was hostile, was his Dark Axis friendly? Or were they as malevolent as the one Captain faced? Was it possible that they could be even worse?

And then there was this "Devil Superior"...

Captain terminated the thought processes. He was usually curious about the multiverse around him, but he found Zephyranthes' dimension too disturbing to think about. What he knew for sure was that he wanted to destroy that mirror and ensure he would never meet his counterpart's allies. But orders were orders.

Or were they? Chief Haro had ordered him not to dispose of the mirror...but not to slightly damage it. Perhaps if he chipped the glass or put a hairline crack in it, it would be enough to render it non-functional. Furthermore, such blemishes could easily be blamed on transport.

Captain was surprised at himself for thinking such things. Was the exposure to all of the dimensional conquerors and tyrants making him rebellious? Perhaps...but if it could prevent a future disaster, maybe a little insubordination was justified.

Captain slowly walked back up to the mirror, trying not to ignore the warnings set off by his reflection. He calculated how much force he would need to just slightly crack or chip the glass. Once he had the numbers, he gave it a quick jab with his undamaged hand, making sure to strike as close to the frame as possible. He figured a crack on one edge would look more "accidental."

Nothing happened.

While Captain had never been able to identify what the mirror was made out of, he now knew it was sturdier than normal glass. He punched again, with 50% more force.

Not even a scratch.

Just what _was_ this thing made of?

The Gundam backed away and swung his arm in a wide circle, getting ready to punch it at twice the original force. But before he could strike, Chief Haro's voice yelled, "Captain, what are you doing?!"

He immediately stopped moving, his arm straight in the air. He slowly turned his head around to see the chief in the doorway, his arms crossed.

"Chief!" Captain put down his arm and sheepishly turned around. "Are you finished with your phone calls?"

"Captain, were you trying to destroy the mirror?" Haro asked sternly.

"Well...I was actually..." The Gundam tried to think of an excuse, but realized he just didn't have it in him to lie to the chief. That, and he couldn't generate anything that sounded convincing. "Yes, I was. I was trying to crack it just enough to make it non-functional. I apologize, chief, I just didn't want-"

"Then it's a good thing I caught you before you did it!" Haro entered the room, walked past Captain, and over to a filing cabinet. He pulled an electric screwdriver and a pair of pliers out of a drawer. Then he went over to the mirror and flipped it around. He took the screwdriver and began removing tabs from the back of the frame.

"You have to take it out first!" he explained as he worked. "This frame is very nice, and I would hate to see it get broken. If you put a real mirror in here, it would make a great addition to someone's house!"

Captain tilted his head. "So...you don't disapprove of my attempt to destroy the mirror?"

"Not at all," the chief replied. He paused to pop the mirror out and place the frame in a corner of the room. "After everything that happened today, I've made the decision that there is too much risk in keeping it. Captain Zephyranthes was dangerous enough acting alone, but now we've been informed that he had allies. Until we know more about this other dimension, we can't leave an unpredictable doorway to it wide open."

"Precisely," the Gundam said as relief washed through his emotional circuits.

He watched as Haro took the glass and placed it on a wheeled metal table. The chief pushed it into the center of the room and rolled up one of his sleeves. Captain noticed he had a bandage all the way up his forearm.

"Now let me show you how to properly dispose of this thing!" Haro shouted as he thrust the bandaged arm straight up in the air. He did a little spin in place before karate chopping the mirror. The sound equipment rattled against the walls and desks. The table trembled.

The mirror was undamaged.

"Oh dear," Captain remarked.

Haro stood up straight and made an embarrassed cough. "Perhaps...if my arm wasn't injured, I would have been able to break it."

"Not to worry, chief," the Gundam said as he stepped over to the filing cabinet. He opened a drawer and fished out a sledgehammer. "Maybe a tool would help?"

"Alright, let's try it," Haro replied. "Thanks, Captain."

He moved the table over to give himself some room. He then took the hammer, swung it high over his shoulder, and slammed the mirror with the force of a Big Zam stomp. Captain felt his endoskeleton shake. The table bent down the middle. Small office supplies on the desks bounced into the air and fell into the floor. One set of blinds over a transparent wall fell off its rod. The hammer's head snapped off.

The mirror was undamaged.

"I just bought this thing, too," the chief sighed as he looked at the broken tool.

"Why don't we take it down to the shooting range?" Captain suggested. "I'm sure something in my arsenal could break it."

"Let's save our ammo for now," Haro said. "There's a reason I wanted to bring the mirror in here."

After leaning the mirror up against the nearest wall, the chief gripped the opposite ends of the bent table in each hand, and with a quick jerk, completely straightened it out. Then he placed the glass back on the table and rolled it in front of several large stereos. He walked over to a desk with a tablet on top of it and touched the screen. Holographic images appeared, showing a variety of sound editing applications. Captain could see a list of recent projects with names like "September 1 vibe" and "07Jan3346 Song." Was the chief into making music?

Haro pressed the play button on a screen labeled "Tune," and the speakers emitted a continuous middle C. He then poked at a sliding bar, adjusting the pitch up and down. Eventually, a particularly high frequency caused the mirror to rattle around on the table. The chief immediately paused the sound, made the Tune holoscreen larger, and stared at it thoughtfully.

"Interesting!" he said.

Before Captain could ask what he meant, Haro opened a desk drawer and removed a microphone. He connected it to the tablet and tapped it a few times to make sure it was working.

"Testing, one, two, three," he said into it. Satisfied with the result, he cleared his throat and sang, "Mi mi mi!" a few times. He hummed a few bars for good measure.

Captain tilted his head. "Chief, if I may ask, what are you-"

Haro suddenly let out a bloodcurdling screech that caused the Gundam's security systems to automatically mute his audio receptors. The mirror shook violently before shattering into dozens of pieces. Captain turned his audios back on to hear the chief coughing.

"You did it!" he said. He then politely added, "I didn't know you could sing."

"Well...sort of. It's...a hobby of mine," Haro sputtered nervously adjusting his necktie. "To be honest, I did that on a whim. I recognized the frequency as a note I could hold. I'm surprised it actually worked!"

"What should we do now, chief?" Captain asked.

"Right now, I'll get this broken glass cleaned up and give it to the research labs," Haro answered. "I'm sure they'd like to study its dimensional properties. After that, I'll send the cleanup clew to immediately begin repairing the Dimensional Transport Device. The coordinates to the other Neotopia will be archived for research purposes. And...just in case we need them later." He sighed. "I'm still uncomfortable leaving them alone like that. I wish they'd at least let us help the citizens...I'm sure there's a lot of them that need medical attention or a place to stay..."

Not knowing what to say, the Gundam just nodded.

"But I digress," the chief continued. "We should also investigate who built that mirror and why."

"I have part of that covered," Captain replied, taking out the piece of paper he had received from Prim. "One of the rebels gave this to me. She claims it's the creator and original owner of the mirror."

"Excellent work, Captain," Haro said, taking the note and looking it over. "Hmm...I think I've heard of this person. I believe she runs a psychic reading business downtown..."

"I've also heard the mirror was actually stolen," the Gundam added. "Whoever sold it to Shute may be our suspect."

"Interesting...the plot thickens," Haro mused rubbing the "chin" of his helmet. "We'll have to look into this ASAP. In the meantime, you should report to Kao Lyn for repairs."

"Yes, sir," Captain said, saluting. He turned to walk out of the room when he remembered something and stopped himself. "Chief, would you mind if I used your sound editing equipment later?"

"Not at all, Captain," Haro replied. "What do you need it for?"

"It's related to the mirror investigation," Captain explained. "I have a voice clip that I've been meaning to analyze for awhile now..."

* * *

Shute slowly opened his eyes to find himself in some sort of dark grey void. After a minute or two, his vision finally cleared, and he realized he was staring at a blank ceiling. He became aware of a huge headache, and pain in both of his arms.

As he slowly sat up, he immediately realized this was not his room. The place was dimly lit, but he could make out handrails on his bed. He was covered in a thin blanket, his arms placed on top. One of them had a bandage halfway up his forearm. The lack of a cast told him it wasn't broken, but he couldn't remember getting injured in the first place. The other arm had a needle in it, and was hooked up to what he assumed was an IV pump. His red shirt was replaced with a white gown. Obviously, he was in a hospital, but why was he here? The last clear memory he had was when Captain picked him up from school.

He looked around to find walls that were bare as the ceiling. There was a row of cabinets with a sink along one of them. Across from him was a stand with a modest-sized TV, and the only source of light, a small lamp. Seated in a chair next to it was his mother. She was leaning back against the wall, asleep. In her arms was Nana, also asleep. He considered waking them up to ask what was going on.

Fortunately, he didn't need to. Nana must have heard him moving, as she suddenly woke up. "Shoo!" she shouted and quickly began trying to climb down from Keiko's lap. The sudden disturbance woke his mother up. She rubbed her eyes with one hand while holding onto the toddler with the other.

"Nana, what are you-?"

"Um, good morning, Mom?" Shute said, not actually knowing what time it was.

Keiko took her hand away from her eyes and gasped. "Shute, you're awake!" she shouted.

She held onto Nana's hand as they rushed over to his bed. Keiko then gave him a big hug while trying to avoid his IV line.

"Oh, Shute! I'm so glad you came to!" she cried, tears in her eyes. "We were so worried!"

Nana giggled and jumped up and down, clapping.

Shute hugged back as best he could with one sore arm. "It's good to see you too, Mom," he replied. "How long was I out for?"

Keiko let him go and stood up, taking hold of Nana's hand again. "Captain said you went unconscious sometime around three this afternoon. So that's about..." She paused to take her phone out of her pocket and check the time. "...Twelve hours."

"Huh." That didn't sound too bad; Shute had heard of people being in comas for years. "Did Captain tell you what happened? I don't remember anything!"

"No, and it's driving me crazy!" Keiko's raised her voice, practically shouting. "He said the incident was currently classified, and couldn't tell me anything except that you were unconscious!" She sighed and paused to shoo a curious Nana away from the IV cord. "I-I know you've been through worse, and that I shouldn't panic...but when I got a call from the SDG telling me you were in the hospital..."

She put her hand over her face, but Shute heard her stifled sob.

"I'm sorry. I better go tell your father you're awake." Her voice was cracking. "And Captain, too. He's right outside."

Shute saw a tear roll down his mother's cheek as she led Nana out of the room. A second later, Captain entered in his Mobile Citizen mode.

"Hello, Shute!" he said, switching his optical display to the "happy" mode. "It's good to see that you have regained consciousness! Your parents and I were very concerned."

"It's good to see you too, Captain!" the boy smiled back.

Captain's optics went back to normal. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Well, my head really hurts, and my arm does too. But other than that, I guess I'm fine," Shute replied.

"No difficulty with speech or motor skills?"

"Uh...I don't think so?"

"Great!" Captain's optics became "happy" again.

"Well, I guess we should probably get down to business," Shute said. "What happened? I can't remember anything after you picked me up from school!"

The Gundam's optics reverted back to their default display again. Despite not having flexible features like a human, a shadow passed over his face. "One moment, Shute," he said as he closed the door.

His optics became glassy, and a wide green beam poured out of them. It scanned the entire room, top to bottom, side to side, before shutting off.

"Confirmed. No transmitting devices detected," he announced.

Shute blinked. "Whoa, what's with the cloak-and-dagger stuff?" he asked.

"It's because the incident is still classified," Captain explained, keeping his voice modulator's volume low. "You have to make sure not to tell your parents for the time being, okay?"

"Uh, okay," the boy shrugged. It wasn't like he hadn't kept major events secret before. "I'm guessing whatever happened was pretty bad if it had to be classified!"

"Yes, it was," Captain said. "You and twenty-six other humans were under mind control."

"Say WHAT?!" Shute's jaw nearly hit the floor.

The Gundam told his human friend all about Zephyranthes' plans to build an army to take back his own Neotopia. How he passed out cybernetic patches to humans, claiming they warded off the Bagu Bagu - but in reality, they hijacked the wearer's mind. How he tried to use Juli to gain access to the Brain World, and when that didn't work, how he tried to force Captain into giving up the access codes by holding Shute hostage. How he used an unknown power to change forms and defeat most of the Neotopian Gundam Force. How he was ultimately defeated with Captain activated his Soul drive and overpowered him. And finally, how a small group of rebels took him back to his own dimension, and how the mirror was disposed of afterward.

"Wow, sounds like you guys accomplished a lot while I was out cold!" Shute said.

"Actually, you helped out as well," Captain replied.

The boy raised an eyebrow. "I...did?"

"I do not have a explanation as of right now, but my Soul Drive was still able to sync with your mind despite your unconsciousness," Captain explained. "In fact, I even heard your voice. You said that you were having a dream."

"Wow, that's pretty awesome! Too bad I can't remember any of it!" Shute chuckled. "So I guess that's it, huh?"

"Not entirely. We still need to investigate the mirror's creator," Captain explained. "We've already identified the original owner. Interestingly enough, it was not the person who sold it to you."

"Oh, yeah...," Shute said, remembering that odd vendor from the flea market. "So how'd he get it? Did he also buy it from a flea market and end up fighting his evil twin?"

"Actually, they stole it."

"Uh...really?" He blanched at the idea of accidentally buying stolen goods. Were the cops going to question him for that?

"I finally performed a voice analysis on that vendor," Captain continued. "They were a match for Kuchi Kuchi, the Da Scar space pirate."

Shute had to rack his brain for a moment, as the name didn't sound familiar at first. "Oh yeah! The talking starfish! They survived the Dimensional Halo blowing up?"

"Somehow they did. The original owner reported the item missing a week before our trip to the flea market. The SDG will begin searching for them, and local authorities have been notified to report any unusual burglaries."

"Yeah, I guess with the Halo destroyed, they've gone back to the old fashioned method of pirating."

A knock on the door interrupted them. "Hey guys! Can we come in?" the voice of Shute's father asked.

"Sure thing," Captain replied, opening the door.

Keiko walked in first, carrying a cup of coffee and looking a lot less upset. Mark followed her, carrying Nana in his arms. The Gundam noticed that one of his forearms was bandaged up.

"Hey there, Shute!" Mark said while bouncing the toddler a bit. "Glad to see you awake! How're you feelin'?"

"I'm okay, Dad," the boy reassured him. "Just got a little headache...that's all."

"Good to hear," Keiko said. "So what were you and Captain talking about while we were outside? You two seemed awful quiet."

"Oh, um...not much," Shute shrugged. "Captain was just telling me about what happened while I was out."

"Well, not much has been happening, so no wonder they were quiet!" Mark laughed.

"Was any of it sensitive information?" Keiko asked.

Captain and Shute exchanged looks before the Gundam nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. Some things we discussed were classified," he answered. "I am sorry. Once it becomes declassified, however, I will let you know if Shute doesn't inform you first."

Keiko sighed. "I understand. I'm just frustrated, I guess. I mean, you're not even allowed to tell me how my son lost consciousness in the first place..."

"Well, if it makes you feel better Mom," Shute said, "I can tell you that I was _not_ whacked on the head by something!" Captain gave him a blank look. "Hey, it's okay to tell her what _didn't_ happen, right?"

"Okay guys, lets not get Captain in trouble," Mark said. He then turned to to Gundam and asked, "So anyway, you gonna stay the night with us?"

"I wish that I could, but now that Shute has recovered, I should be returning to base," Captain said. "However, assuming I do not receive any new assignments, I can return tomorrow at regular visiting hours."

"Sounds like a plan," Mark said. "Anyway, we won't keep you." He gently held up one of Nana's arms and said in a higher-pitched voice, "Say goodbye, Nana!"

The toddler was watching her mother drink coffee as her father waved her hand.

"See ya tomorrow, Captain," Shute said, slowly waving his bandaged arm. "Have a safe trip back!"

"Goodbye, Captain!" Keiko added, waving to him. "And good luck! We'll keep in touch."

"Thank you, everyone. Have a good night," the Gundam said, waving back. He then turned to the boy and said, "And remember to get plenty of rest and fluids, Shute."

"Uh...yeah!" Shute replied, rubbing the back of his head. "I'll do that!"

With that, Captain stepped out of the room, cautious of any hospital staff that might be walking by. He then headed over to the nearest elevator. As he waited for the next lift, he suddenly realized that Mark's forearm was bandaged up in the same manner as Chief Haro's was.

He was sure it was just a coincidence.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note:** Many thanks to my beta reader Outtsyder for all his help with this story!

**Spectrophobia  
Chapter 11**

The shop was located on the corner of a residential and an industrial zone. As such, it was actually a house with its lower floor converted into a storefront. A wooden sign posted in the front yard read "Miss Prim's House of Oddities" in curling letters. Captain titled his head. Wasn't "Prim" also the name of that elderly rebel - the very same one who tipped him off to this person-of-interest?

The Gundam was standing around on the sidewalk in front of the building, making sure he had the right address. He was in his default mode, unarmed this time. Accompanying him were two SDG personnel, a human woman and a male-identifying GM. Once Captain confirmed that they were at the right store, they headed down the walkway past a blue gazing ball resting a stand in the shape of a motorcycle. They climbed a narrow staircase nestled between hedgerows decorated with pinwheels onto a large full porch with a hammock in one corner. A neon sign in one of the windows assured them that the place was open.

Captain and his entourage entered the shop, a bell attached to the screen door announcing their arrival. They walked into a large room filled with, as the sign put it, oddities. Along one wall was shelves filled with baskets and bowls of crystals and polished semi-precious stones. On the opposite wall were shelves lined with books. In between were shelves full of various goods such as candles, crystal balls of many sizes, salt lamps, decks of tarot cards, boxes of incense, bottles of essential oils, and bags of herbs. In the center was a table covered in jars containing what looked like preserved frogs and lizards, long bones of various sizes, and a skull of a longhorn cow.

Against the back wall was a glass counter with a register and a bell on top of it. A small wooden swinging door between it and the nearest wall gated off the back area. Inside the counter were geodes of many different sizes and colors. There was also a shadowbox, though Captain was too far away to see its contents. Behind the counter was a doorway with covered in a red beaded curtain.

No sign of the proprietor, however.

They walked up to the counter, and Captain rang the bell. "Just a minute!" a voice called from the backroom. As they waited, Captain's lady assistant walked over to the bookshelves and started checking out the titles. The GM examined the shadowbox on display. Curious, Captain also took a peek. Inside was a taxidermied two-headed rattlesnake.

"Pretty cool, innit Captain?" the GM asked.

"Um...yes?" The Gundam honestly wasn't sure how to respond.

The sound of footsteps shifted everyone's attention back to the doorway. A thin young woman with long, red hair pushed the beads aside and stepped into the room. She was wearing a simple red dress and a straw hat with a matching red ribbon around it. Her complexion was oddly ashen, raising some questions about her health. Captain's facial recognition programs instantly matched her with the elderly rebel of the same name; just by his own observations, she definitely resembled a younger version of the other Prim.

"Good morning, everyone," she announced. "Miss Prim at your serv-" She stopped herself when she noticed the SDG badges on her three guests. "Oh! Oh, my! Uh, hello there, officers!" Her pale cheeks flushed beige.

"Good morning. I'm Captain Gundam, and we're from the Super Dimensional Guard," Captain replied. "We're here to discuss your stolen mirror."

"Oh, yes! I've seen you on TV! You're the one who got rid of those evil robots last year!" Miss Prim removed her hat gave him a slight bow. "Goodness, I sensed I was going to meet someone important today, but I wasn't expecting _this!_" She replaced her hat and cleared her throat. "Oh, but where are my manners? You said something about my mirror - did you happen to find it?"

"Yes, we did ma'am." Captain lowered his head. "Unfortunately, it was destroyed."

Prim's face fell. "Oh it did? That's a shame." She shrugged. "Maybe it's for the best. The thing never did work right, anyway."

"However, we _did_ learn about its dimensional properties," Captain continued.

"Oh, so it started working again?" Prim cheered, clapping her hands. "That's great! You know, I made that thing ten years ago, and it only made a portal once! It's supposed to open every new moon, but after the first time, it wouldn't work no matter what phase the moon was! I often thought something in my shop was counteracting its-" She broke off upon seeing the SDG officers staring at her and putting two and two together. "Uh, am I...am I in trouble? I-in my defense, I _swear_ there wasn't any laws against making portals ten years ago!"

"Don't worry ma'am, you're not in any trouble," Captain reassured her. "However, if you still have any leftover materials from the mirror's construction, we will have to confiscate them."

The GM officer held out his hand, revealing a holographic projector in his palm. It created an image of the search warrant for Prim to read.

"Alright, I understand," she said, looking relieved. "Everything's upstairs. I'll show you around."

She opened the gate, letting Captain and his assistants into the back room. Against the walls were shelves with more herbs, incense, and cards, as well as the occasional book. In the center was a round wooden table surrounded by chairs. On top of this table was a crystal ball - but unlike the ones in the store, this one was made out of red glass. Captain caught a glimpse of tiny birds fluttering around inside it. He assumed they were just holograms.

Miss Prim led them across the room and up a narrow flight of stairs. The steps creaked in protest at the robots' weight.

"If you don't mind me asking, officers," Prim said as she climbed, "when my mirror made a portal, did...something come out of it?"

"Sorry ma'am, but I'm afraid that information is classified," Captain explained.

The shopkeep just shrugged. "Oh well, that's quite alright. You don't have to tell me if you can't. It's just that, the other day I felt a powerful otherworldly presence enter this dimension, and I got curious." She stepped onto the landing. "Right this way, everyone!"

They followed her into a small room where crates and buckets filled with stones were scattered everywhere. Glittering mineral dust covered the floor. Along one wall was a workbench with many different sized mallets and chisels placed upon it. Next to it was a bookshelf containing gem cutting manuals, geological textbooks, and books describing the spiritual properties of crystals. At the bottom were larger books with no titles on their spines, some of which were covered in archival book jackets.

"You'll have to pardon the mess," Prim said. "This is where I cut and polish my crystals."

She walked across the room, stepping over boxes along the way. She opened a closet door and retrieved a plastic bag. Inside of it were a bunch of large, jagged rocks that were a familiar shade of purple.

"This is all I have left from when I made my mirror," she said, handing the bag off to Captain. "There's not enough for another portal, though."

Captain fished out a stone and gave it a scan. Sure enough, it did not match any known mineral in his database. "Where did you find these crystals?" he asked.

"I bought them up in Clydesville," she replied. "The store said they were rough-cut amethysts. Once I got them home though, I quickly found out they weren't. I ruined an entire set of chisels trying to cut them!" She suddenly clapped her hands together and added, "Oh, that's right!"

She trotted over to the bookshelf and removed one of the thick covered books at the bottom.

"This'll tell you how to sculpt the stones without breaking all your tools. It also shows you how to do the enchantments to make portals," she explained as she gently handed the book to Captain. "Be careful with it though - it's very old!"

The book was bound in worn, frayed black leather. The pages were yellow. Emblazoned on the front cover was _Principles of Planar Travel_ in chipped gold lettering. Underneath was "Y. Kato," presumably the author's name. He handed it off to his GM assistant behind him.

"Thank you ma'am," Captain said. "You didn't happen to sell any of these, did you?"

"Oh, no, I wouldn't do that!" she replied. "I hardly know anything about them, myself. I wouldn't want to give away something that could be dangerous!"

"Is there anything you _can_ tell us?"

"Just that they're really hard to cut, and that they can be used to make dimensional portals," she answered. "The book isn't much help, either. It says they're a new discovery and that research is ongoing about what they can do. It was written over a century ago, but I couldn't find anything since. There isn't even have a _name_ for these crystals - the book just calls them 'Element Z'!"

"Thanks for your co-operation, ma'am," the Gundam said with a nod. "Now, if you don't mind, we'll need to perform some scans on your store. We need to check for any trace elements."

Prim thankfully continued to be co-operative. She shrugged and said, "Sure, go right ahead."

Captain and his assistants then began to scan all of the crates, buckets, and dust piles for any potentially hidden mystery crystals. Fortunately for them (and Prim), all of the rocks in the room came up as known minerals. The other rooms on the second floor consisted of Prim's bedroom, a bathroom, and a workshop from drying and mixing herbs; as such, no crystals were found in there. They headed back downstairs and split up. Captain checked the back room, the GM officer checked the storage room, and the human officer checked the storefront with her handheld analyzer. All of the gems turned up completely normal.

With their work done, Captain thanked Prim for her patience and told her that they'll keep in touch if they had any more questions. She bid them farewell and added, "If you ever need your fortune told, I'll be right here. I even give military discounts!"

After saying their goodbyes, Captain and his crew left the store and headed back to the empty lot where their Gunperry was parked. As they walked down the sidewalk, the Gundam removed a crystal from the bag and gave it another look. That light purple color reminded him of Zephyranthes' cyberpatches...

* * *

A week later, Shute was released from the hospital. No brain or nerve damage had been found, and physical therapy was deemed unnecessary. The week after that, he was making plans with Captain to go back to flea market. His mother was extremely reluctant to let him go at first, but he assured her that this was official SDG business. She eventually conceded, but only after he promised not to buy anything weird.

And so once again, Shute found himself wandering past rows of tables selling food, crafts, and knicknacks. This time, however, he was not there to shop; he and Captain were trying to see if that space pirate starfish-in-disguise was out selling his ill-gotten gains again. The boy was searching the south half of the market while his robot buddy searched the north section. Along the way, he noticed a lot of police officers roaming the aisles; apparently, he wasn't the only one on the lookout.

At the end of his search, he wound up in front of that tool shop that he had visited last time. The vendor was once again, asleep. The goods on his table had not changed. What had changed, however, is that the spot next to him - the spot where the incognito Kuchi Kuchi had been previously - was now completely empty.

_Maybe they're on to us?_ Shute thought. Of course, it was possible that they were here earlier, but left when the police arrived. He looked at the sleeping tool shop guy. Would he know?

Remembering how hard it was to wake the man up, Shute shook the table and said "Excuse me, mister!" as loud as he could without shouting. The vendor snorted and fidgeted, but stayed asleep. The boy sighed. Never mind; even if Kuchi Kuchi _had_ been here, this guy would have slept right through it.

Shute left the man to his nap and headed out of the flea market. He followed the sidewalk down to the Neotopia Tower where he and Captain had agreed to rendezvous after their search. Upon his arrival, he found his Gundam pal still in his Mobile Citizen mode and talking with some police officers. He sat down on a park bench under a large tree to rest his feet as Captain finished his conversation.

Stretching his arms along the back of the bench, he gazed around the plaza. It was a pretty nice day to be out. The skies were clear, and it was perfectly warm with no cold breezes. The citizens of Neotopia were strolling around, taking their dogs for walks, playing catch with their kids, or just hanging out. At least one human child was even trying to fly a kite. Birds were fluttering around and singing - especially in the tree next to him, where they were pretty loud. Also, there was a black rock by his foot.

Shute blinked and looked back down at the ground. Sure enough, there was a small, pitch-black stone nestled in the grass by his shoe. He bent over and picked it up to get a better look at it.

It was the size of a coin and rather bean-shaped. It felt smooth like glass and had a glossy sheen despite its dark color. It might have been an onyx of some sort.

He was tempted to stick it in his pocket, but hesitated. A tingle rolled down his spine as he remembered the last time he took an unusual object home from this place. And didn't Mom say not to?

No, Mom said not to _buy_ anything here; this was lying on the ground and therefore free. Besides, he sincerely doubted a little black rock had dangerous magical powers. He gave it a good shake, just for good measure. Nothing happened.

Suddenly, there was a loud fluttering noise in his ear with high-pitched tweets. Something struck the side of his head, knocking him over. Shute yelped, his hand flying to the spot where he had been hit. He looked up, trying to find what it was that scratched him. Directly above him, its feathers poofed out, was a rather enraged-looking cardinal. It was chirping up a storm while hopping around on its branch. A second one, presumably the one that pecked him, landed next to its companion and also began to harangue the boy.

"Hey! What was that for?!" he barked at the birds. "Am I too close to your nest or something?!"

One of the cardinals responded by dive-bombing him. Shute quickly rolled off the bench, dodging the feathered fiend's attack.

"Okay, okay!" he snapped as he picked himself off the ground. "I'm going! Sheesh!"

He stuck the black rock in his pocket, and he swore the birds chirped even more frantically. He backed away from them slowly, keeping a close eye on them just in case they launched another assault.

"Is something wrong, Shute?" a familiar metallic voice asked. Shute turned to see Captain walking up to him.

"Oh, hey Captain!" he said. "Just having some trouble with the local wildlife. So anyway, how goes the search for you-know-who? I couldn't find _anything._ The spot they were at last time was empty!"

"Unfortunately, I could not find anything on our suspect either," the Gundam replied. "I just spoke with local law enforcement. They had been monitoring the area before the market opened, and they did not find any suspicious individuals. In addition, there has been no reports of any unusual burglaries in the past few weeks."

"Maybe they know we're looking them, so they're laying low?" the boy asked.

"Perhaps." Captain suddenly went quiet and cautiously looked around. "Shute, would you happen to know of any place where we can speak more privately?"

"Uh, sure!" Shute said. "I know a place in one of the parks where nobody ever goes. Here, I'll show you arou-"

He let out a yelp as something whacked him in the back of the head. Furious chirping told him the cardinals were at it again.

"And let's get outta here, quick!" he added, rubbing his head and glaring at the tiny red imps.

Shute and Captain headed into the Neotopia Tower and caught an elevator to the second-highest saucer-shaped park. Upon arrival, Shute led the Gundam down the main walkway until they reached a dense cluster of trees. The boy pushed aside some tall grass revealing a dirt road. They followed it a few meters in to a worn, slightly rusted bench.

"Here we are, Captain," he said, plopping down on the bench. "I've never seen anybody come back this way, so we should be safe. And since it's not my house, no having to worry about my parents barging in."

"Are you sure we're supposed to be back here?" Captain asked. "This looks like a maintenance road."

"If it is, I've never seen them use it," Shute replied. "Anyway, what was it you wanted to tell me? Is it something top secret?"

"No, I wouldn't divulge classified information here," the Gundam said as he sat down next to Shute. "It is, however, about the Zephyranthes incident."

"What is it? Did you find out more about his dimension?"

"No, nothing like that." Captain lowered his head. "It's more about my inability to fully process the situation. I seem to be much more...disturbed by the incident than I should be."

"Really? Like how?"

"Well, I feel strangely responsible for everything Zephyranthes has done in his dimension," Captain explained. "While I understand that we are two distinct individuals, the feeling will not go away."

"Yeah, I can see where you're coming from," Shute said. "I'd probably feel the same way if I knew my evil twin did something horrible."

He shivered, briefly reminded his "evil twin" that Zeong created to mock him. He had not met his double from Zephyranthes' universe, but sincerely hoped he was nothing like that.

"The only thing I can say is to keep reminding yourself that everything the other Captain did is not your fault," he continued. "It was _his_ choice, not yours."

"'His choice'..." Captain stared off into the distance. "I'm not so sure about that."

Shute frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I did not mention this to you before, but I saw into Zephyranthes' memory banks." The Gundam's optical displays trembled. "It happened when he tried to extract the Brain World codes from me. I saw how he subjugated his own Neotopia and later his Dark Axis."

"Not fun to watch, huh?" The boy rubbed the back of his head. "I don't see that guy having anything pleasant on his mind."

"I also saw his Soul Drive," Captain continued. "It was empty."

"Empty? You mean like, it was just a glass ball, or something?"

Captain nodded. "He told me that it activated once but never again, which leads me to the conclusion that his was broken or defective. And that's what has me worried."

He hopped off the bench and started pacing back and forth as he spoke.

"We saw that Madnug and Sazabi had black Soul Drives. They destroyed entire civilizations. Zephyranthes' was blank. He placed his entire city under mind control, and when that eventually failed, he nearly did it to ours. This makes me wonder how much of our behavior is actually determined by our logic circuits and not by our Soul Drives."

He stopped pacing and shifted his gaze at the ground.

"And if the state of our Soul Drives is what really determines behavior, then...how much free will do we really have? What would happen to me if my Soul Drive were to become corrupted somehow? Or perhaps break in some small way which would cause its flame to be extinguished? Would I...would I become like them?" He started to shake. "Would I...betray...the SDG and all of my friends? Would I...?"

"_No._"

Shute stood up and marched over to the despairing Gundam. He put his hands squarely on Captain's shoulders, looked him straight in the optics, and said, "Don't do this to yourself. You're not like them, you hear?! You're not delusional, you're not a bully, and you're not a selfish jerk! And most importantly, you're definitely _not_ a traitor!"

Captain slowly lifted his head. "But-"

"No buts, Captain!" Shute interrupted. "Think of everything you've been through. The Dark Axis tried to recruit you not once, but _twice!_ I think if your Soul Drive was going to get corrupted, it would have done so already!

"And besides, we don't know for certain if it has anything to do with your personality! I'm not an expert on Soul Drives, but what if the _opposite_ is true? Madnug's kind of a bad example anyway, because I'm pretty sure Zeong forced his to turn black. But as for Sazabi and the other Captain, maybe their Soul Drives were messed up because they were just bad guys to begin with!"

A sudden wave of light-headedness struck him as he said those last words, and he had to lean on Captain to keep his balance. He closed his eyes, waiting for the dizziness to subside.

"Are you okay, Shute?" the Gundam asked.

"Uhhh...yeah. I'm fine," the boy groaned, rubbing his face. "I...I think I need to sit down."

"Here, let me help." Captain draped one of Shute's arms over his shoulders and slowly helped walk him back to the bench. Shute plopped down and buried his head in his hands. The light-headedness had become full-blown dizziness, and there was a dull ache in his temples.

"Do you need some water?" Captain asked.

"I think I'll be okay," the boy replied. "Just give me a minute."

The Gundam sat down next to him. After a few minutes of silence, he suddenly spoke. "I think you're right."

Shute opened an eye. "Huh?" was the only coherent thing he could think to say.

"I think you're right about the Soul Drives, I mean," Captain explained. "There are still things we don't quite understand about normal, functional Soul Drives, and there have been no studies on abnormal ones at all. Therefore, I cannot draw any meaningful conclusions about my Soul Drive potentially becoming corrupted. Zephyranthes' actions has me so deeply disturbed, that I am allowing them to interfere with my logic processing systems."

His dizziness fading, Shute was able to sit up and open his other eye. "Don't worry about it, Captain," he said. "Like I said, it's totally understandable. Just don't let him get to you, and try not to beat yourself up over what he did. Remember, you're nothing like him!"

Captain nodded. "Thank you, Shute," he said. "I will try to keep that in mind."

"With that outta the way, why don't we talk about something more positive?" the boy suggested. "Like, um..." He paused for a minute in thought before snapping his fingers when an idea presented itself. "Oh, hey! How about that weird glass the mirror's made out of? Did you guys find anything out about it? At least, anything you're allowed to talk about outside the Blanc Base?"

"Oh, yes! The substance has not been classified as of yet, so it is safe for me to discuss it here." The Gundam seemed to have perked up a little. "First, our research teams determined that the mirror and Zephyranthes' control patches are made from the same mineral..."

Shute ears suddenly began to ring.

"...amazing physical properties..."

The ringing was now so loud that he had to struggle to hear what Captain was saying.

_...Hu...man?_

Shute looked out of the corners of eyes. Did he just hear a voice besides Captain's?

"...a Z-boson that lasted for up to a minute..."

_Hum...an! Leave the Gund...take the bla...to edge of...find aband...mill!_

Yes, he _definitely_ heard a voice! He craned his neck around, looking for the mysterious speaker. Meanwhile, that dizziness was beginning to come back.

"What's wrong, Shute?"

The ringing abruptly stopped. Shute found Captain staring at him, a puzzled and concerned look in his optics.

"Uhh...nothing!" he replied, picking at his ear. "Just felt a little dizzy again. I'm okay now."

"I hope you're not getting sick," Captain said. "Perhaps all the exposure to the sun during our investigation gave you heat exhaustion?"

Shute made a embarrassed chuckle. "No, I don't think it's anything that bad," he said. "Y'know, I think I know what it is - I haven't eaten lunch yet!" He slowly stood up from the bench, still a little light-headed. "Let's head down to the fourth floor. There's a new pizza place I wanna try!"

Captain stood up. "Sounds like a good idea."

They made their way back to the main trail and headed back toward the elevators. While his mother told him not to buy anything weird at the flea market, Shute figured she would make an exception for food. Except for indigestion, there was no harm in buying a slice of pizza.

Right?

Of course not.

Nonetheless, as they reached the elevators and rode down to the eatery floor, Shute found himself praying that the pizza place wasn't haunted. The last thing he needed was for his own evil twin to jump out of a cursed piece of pepperoni.

**THE END**


End file.
